Prepare to be serenaded this weekend at the World Jazz Festival in Mumbai

Saskia Laroo (on the trumpet) and band at the first edition of the festival

The second edition of Banyan Tree's World Jazz Festival brings a celebration and marriage of jazz and world music to audiences in Mumbai and Bengaluru. Curator of the festival and managing director of Banyan Tree, Mahesh Babu, tells us, "There'll be traditional jazz as well as a combination of jazz with other music genres like hip-hop, blues and Carnatic music." He explains that world jazz is a genre where many styles of music are combined with no creative limit.

Nathalie Schaap

Bringing this style to life are popular musicians such as Saskia Laroo, a popular trumpet player who will take the stage on the second day of the two-day Mumbai edition that combines jazz with hip-hop. Prasanna, a critically acclaimed Indian-American guitarist, will perform Carnatic music on the guitar with Ojas Adhiya on the tabla for what Babu says will be an electronically rich and spectacular presentation fusing two cultures and musical styles. Prasanna tells us, "I will perform my compositions that combine jazz and Indian music, and also some traditional American jazz rearranged for the guitar and tabla."

Ben van den Dungen

The festival is taking place in collaboration with Amersfoort Jazz Festival in The Netherlands, a leading festival in Europe founded in 1979. Recounting the first edition in February 2020, Babu notes that this year will be bigger than before. It will witness performances by artistes from The Netherlands, South Africa, Spain and the United States of America. The line-up for the Mumbai leg of the event is nothing short of impressive with names such as Alexander Beets, Deborah Carter, Nathalie Schaap, Ellister van der Molen, Ben van den Dungen, Jodi Fredericks, Mitchell Damen, and others.

"We are bringing some of the best musicians from across the globe, and audiences can expect an enriching and electrifying experience. These collaborations will be extremely dynamic; each set will be 45 minutes-long, and packed with action from the start. We are planning to have all the musicians on stage on the final day for one large jam session," Babu adds.

Mahesh Babu

He concludes saying, "The aim of bringing the festival to Mumbai and Bengaluru is to build a jazz community across India. We are also looking to build the festival into a month-long celebration of jazz in the future."

On: June 4 and 5; 7 pm
At: St Andrew's Auditorium, St Dominic Road, Bandra West.
Log on to: in.bookmyshow.com
Cost: Rs 500 onwards