Nepal, Oct. 22 -- azz was a strange, foreign musical genre in Nepal before Cadenza came along nearly 30 years ago. But this pioneering Nepali jazz-fusion band did not build its following overnight.

Navin Chhetri, drummer and lead singer of Cadenza began jamming with bandmates every Saturday when the Jazz Upstairs Bar opened in Thamel in 1998.

"Cadenza was a hungry band, and we were always looking for new ways to zhuzh up our style," Chhetri told Nepali Times. "Quickly, we became fascinated with musical improvisation."

A cadenza is an improvisatory passage in Western classical music, and improvisation has always been the core technique of the band, hence its name. "Rock music was our favourite. We loved jamming to rock bands like Thin...