What do the rock band 1974AD, Deep Shrestha, Gurudev Kamat, Manose Singh and Navin Bhattarai have in common besides all of them being musicians? They've all performed at the annual selective musical extravaganza Sounds of Spring. Hosted by the Soaltee Crowne Plaza, the annual event has been the launching pad of many a career. Tomorrow's performence promises to be no different.

When the idea was first conceptualised in early 1998 by Nirakar Yakthumba, the bassist of the rock band 1974AD and the former Managing Director of Hits FM Sonny Shrestha, it was to bring Nepali musicians to the limelight. "It was like a link between the musicians and the potential buyers because in the long term it meant that we would also profit from it," recalls Sonny Shrestha.

It began in 1998 with 1974AD launching their new album Samjhi Baschu amongst a crowd that would otherwise never have had the chance to attend a 1974AD concert. Counted as one of the top rock bands in the country 1974AD couldn't have asked for a better beginning for their hit number Samjhi Baschu from the same album. The following year, old timer Deep Shrestha made an extraordinary comeback performing old hits like Kati Kamjore Rahecha Bhagya. It placed Deep Shrestha back on track with those who had written the veteran crooner off.

"Sounds of Spring is a milestone in Nepali music every year," says Soaltee's Sunim Tamang. "It revives and brings forth old and new talents to a selective audience that understands and appreciates it."

In 2000 the young flutist Manose Singh along with the renowned classical vocalist Gurudev Kamat charmed the audience to quiet appreciation and then prolonged applause. By this time Sounds of Spring had already become known as one of the leading acts of the year in musical performance in Nepal, much anticipated and prepared with enthusiasm to the last details by the organisers.

But just as organisers were preparing for the fourth Sounds of Spring in 2001, the royal massacre struck and all plans had to be laid off for a year. This year however the musical extravaganza is back on with added touches. Although Hits FM has pulled off from this year's show, Soaltee is going at it alone. To fill in the studio Little Star Records owned and managed by Little Star Shrestha will be arranging all technical aspects of the program which includes the latest intelligent lights, sounds and camera.

The on stage performance is also being co-ordinated by Little Star, who told us: "Our ultimate aim is to show that we are capable of putting up an international class act, provided we have the equipment for it. People have this general concept that nothing done in Nepal can be high quality. We are trying to prove this wrong and are preparing for this from all aspects." Sunim Tamang agrees, saying: "Activities such as these will showcase Nepal's potential in convention tourism, too, because it will prove that we are capable of managing international quality acts."

Performance this year will also be a mix of rock, classical, jazz, funk, fusion, blues, Latin jazz as well as contemporary Nepali music. Those scheduled to play include popular Nepali musicians the likes of Sandeep Pradhan, Deepak Bajracharya, Tsering Bhutia, Indra Man Singh and Rajen Gurung. While renowned guitarists Patrick Wilson and son Dariel will be performing Hotel California and Roshni Singh and Priscilla Lama will be doing cover versions by Alanis Morissette and Cranberries. Little Star will also be performing a Joe Satriani piece. New introductions to the industry will be drummer Nikhil Tuladhar and keyboardist Pabit Maharjan.

A quarter of the show will be dedicated to Nepali music and the rest a mix of traditional to modern rock, fusion, and Latin. But the thing to watch out for are the lights. "We will be using a total of 65,000 watts for the lighting system which will include intelligent and crazy lights. Kathmandu has not seen this before," says Little Star. Look out for the special effects accompanying Pink Floyd classic Shine on Your Crazy Diamond.


Little Star (that is his real name) has international experience having arranged for concerts by tabala maestro Zakir Hussein, and British folk musician Donovan Leach.