Nepal Relief Concert

Following the catastrophic earthquake in Nepal, flautist Jamie Baum, Manu Koch and others resolved to organize a benefit concert, and in consultation with the founder and organizer of Jazzmandu, Navin Chettri, reached out to bands who had performed at the festival as well as other allies in the jazz community. The night, hosted by WBGO’s Simon Rentner, promises a wide variety of delights: the ever-intriguing compositions of Claudia Quintet; KJ Denhert’s funk and soul, Joel Harrison and Anuparm Shobhakar’s mix of North Indian classical music and jazz; Goonj’s earthy Indian-based groove music, Beat Kaestli’s French-flavored jazz vocal; Pawan Benjamin’s visionary saxophone immersed in Nepalese traditions; and the renowned mother/son Laugart team leading their Cuban quartet. These eight bands, five of which have performed at Kathmandu Jazz Festival (Jazzmandu), will perform for approximately twenty minutes each.

Full lineup:

Claudia Quintet minus 1 (Jazzmandu 2013)

Chris Speed - clarinet, tenor saxophone

Drew Gress - bass

Matt Moran - vibraphone

John Hollenbeck - drums

Ted Reichman - accordion

Joel Harrison & Anupam Shobhakar: Multiplicity

Joel Harrison - guitar

Anupam Shobhakar - sarode

Hans Glawischnig - bass

Jordan Perlson - drums

w/ special guest Dave Liebman

Beat Kaestli Quartet (Jazzmandu 2012)

Beat Kaestli - voice

Ben Stivers - piano

Gary Wang - bass

Fred Kennedy - drums

KJ Denhert Band (Jazzmandu 2014)

KJ Denhert - voice, guitar

Manu Koch - piano

Leo Traversa - bass

Ray Levier - drums

Xiomara & Axel Laugart (Jazzmandu 2011)

Xiomara Laugart - voice

Axel laugart - piano

tba - bass

tba - percussion

Goonj Beyond Borders (performed with Navin Chettri in NYC 2014)

Jamie Baum - flute

Kenny Warren - trumpet

Matt Moran - vibraphone

Manu Koch - piano

Trifon Dimitrov - bass

Jordan Perlson - drums

w/ special guest Dave Liebman

Trio Urbano (Jazzmandu 2009)

Susan Pereira - voice, percussion

Jamie Baum - flute

Dario Eskenazi - piano

Leo Traversa - bass

Vanderlei Pereira - drums

Pawan Benjamin Group

Pawan Benjamin - bansoori, tenor saxophone

Sharik Hasan - piano

Michael Gam - bass

Peter Kronreif - drums

Raj Kapur - madal, dhol