How many times in life do you get to see a jazz player sit cross-legged, like a yogi, and match the tunes of a sitar with his saxophone?The matching was almost perfect and the overcrowded venue at Rashtriya Nachghar at Jamal did not feel the need to note the difference. It was Friday evening at Sukarma´s annual solo concert this year, featuring Mariano from the Kathmandu Jazz Conservatory (KJC)

The tangible heritages of Nepal are no new story to rest of the world, however, Nepali music and especially Nepali instrumental music is pride of Nepal on its own right. Nepal offers amalgam of typical eastern music based on ragas and its fabrication in Nepali way. Nepali instrumental bands are struggling to make their names in international arena and some have even popped up to the gesture cherished by all people from every nook and cranny of the world.

The alternating pattern of Nepali and jazz-oriented music continued throughout the evening. Probably the most impressive among the former was the instrumental trio Sukarma, whose name translates to “good deeds figuratively defined by the music they perform.”