India, Aug. 22 -- The candles spread across the venue cast a warm, flickering glow over the room, making the entire setup look almost surreal. Sitting there with live jazz filling the space, it was hard to believe that outside was the familiar Delhi chaos - and, somewhere beyond the doors, an hour-long traffic queue waiting to take everyone home.

That was perhaps the most striking part of The Jazz Room: A Journey to the Heart of New Orleans. The beautifully candle-lit evening on August 16 at Piano Man, Eldeco Centre, drew from the rhythm, soul and musical heritage of New Orleans, widely regarded as the birthplace of jazz, but the experience felt less like a lesson in the genre and more like being briefly transported somewhere else.

The ...