Jazz is creative music in three dimensions — melody, harmony and rhythm. However, jazz cannot reach the levels of various forms of rock for popularity. It would remain a niche music given its attributes.Though jazz lacks widespread popularity, it has travelled across the nations — from Scandinavian countries through eastern Europe and the urban American continent. In fact, it started in urban America. Actually jazz came to the US in chains three hundred years ago. It is the best art form that came out of the US.

Jazz reminds you of saxophones, Louis Armstrong, Miles Davis, Ella Fitzerald. It is associated with hard rhythm, brassy sounds and gay abandon.

Improvisation is synonymous with jazz. There is a desire to create new melodies, harmonies and even rhythmic patterns. All this is done in a defined framework, which is the musical composition, and the genre or style. All jazz musicians are in quest.

Jazz in Mumbai and Kolkata from the 1940s to the 1960s matched the international scene in New York and Chicago. Jazz thrived in Kolkata before it met a rapid death in the 1970s. Delhi also had a thriving jazz culture.