Here is my response to 'Mandu Jazz' (Letters, #273):

1. Jazzmandu goes on for nine days and there are a variety of shows at a variety of prices-there are even free shows. If you wanted to see jazz for real cheap, you could have watched Solid (a renowned jazz band from Norway) perform for FREE in Patan Durbar Square on 8 November.

2. Sorry you missed the free show and found Gokarna so outrageously priced for an evening featuring live music by more than five bands. Gokarna is one venue where we feature our own Nepali classical and traditional musicians and dancers, since one of the festival's aims is to respect and recognise our own traditional music. This is a well-known fact that was adequately covered by Nepali Times and other media sources throughout the four years the festival has been going on. I have to ask: is it so painful for our own people to give a little respect to our own music?

3. What is jazz for you? Do we all perceive it in the same way? Is it somebody playing a saxophone? If that is jazz for you, then surely you will enjoy the wedding season: you'll hear a lot of that on the streets and it will be free.

4. You should try to appreciate the sincere and intense effort put in by fellow Nepalis and other music lovers who are trying to bring some quality music to this country, whether it is rock, pop, fusion or jazz.

Last but not least, stop whining about everything.

A Jazzmandu Volunteer,
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