Artists 2026
Tito Puente Jr
USA
The comparison is inevitable. How could it be otherwise? Tito Puente Jr. carries his father with him – in his looks, his joy and his music – and is determined to nurture the musical legacy he has inherited. An unstoppable performer in his own right, with more than 300 shows just in the last five years, Puente Jr. has become an audience favorite at symphony halls and jazz festivals worldwide. He has appeared on numerous major American television networks, and his 2004 album In My Father’s Shoes, featuring classic Tito Puente numbers, was spun into a BET Jazz television special. His new CD release Got Mambo? showcases both classic rhythms and bold new directions that mark the emergence of his own voice in Latin jazz.
Tito Puente Jr. – timbale and vocals
Zach Fawcett – trumpet
Pravin Chettri – alto saxophone
Inap Raj Shretha – tenor saxophone
Nick Aggs – baritone saxophone
Manon Mullener – piano
Samir Chettri – bass
Navin Chettri – percussion
Alex Brindell – percussion
Philippe Ciminato – percussion
Manon Muellner
Switzerland
Hailed as a rising star of European jazz, and the 2026 recipient of the Swiss Jazz Award, Manon Mullener has toured and performed extensively across Europe, Latin America and the Middle East. She began playing piano at the age of four, and at 17 her passion for jazz – particularly for Afro-Cuban music – led her to Havana for a formative phase of her artistic education. Her critically acclaimed first album, Reflejos (2019), recorded in collaboration with Peruvian pianist César Correa and Zurich-based percussionist David Stauffacher, was followed by Insomnia (2023) with the Manon Mullener 5tet, a flagship project blending modern jazz with Afro-Cuban influences. STORIES (2024), recorded in New York, is inspired by stories from people she met during her tours, and has received enthusiastic praise from the European press. Her honours include the Spirale Prize and top spot in the 2022 SOFIA (Support Of Female Improvising Artists) international competition.
Manon Mullener – piano
Lucien Mullener – drums
Rodrigo Aravena – bass
Kevin Saura Group
France
Kevin Saura is a French guitarist and composer based in Nice.
He began teaching himself music at the age of 8 before studying at the CNRR in Nice with Philippe Petit, Fréderic Luzignant, Jean-Paul Ceccareli, and Robert Persi. He graduated in 2020 with a degree in Jazz and Contemporary Music. He also teaches
jazz guitar and contemporary music at the same conservatory for the 2021/2022 academic year. His early influences being blues rock, he formed the trio “Shaky Things” in 2016 as singer, guitarist and composer. The group toured France, Spain, Italy, Belgium, the Netherlands, and the Netherlands. The group toured France, Spain, Italy, Belgium, the Netherlands, and even the United States, where they performed at the
With AHEAD!, the Kevin Saura Group is a forward-looking manifesto where jazz tradition blends with modern funk grooves, free jazz freedom, blues-rock colors, and melodic lines inherited from bebop and West Coast jazz. The aesthetics is that of a collective motion favoring interaction, contrast between composition and improvisation and rich timbres. The music retains the lively energy of live performance while revealing a maturity in the construction of the pieces.
The line-up brings together Kevin Saura on guitar and composition, Aurélien Miguel (guitar), Dauneau (bass), Félix Joveniaux (drums), and Philippe Ciminato (percussion). This core group of solid, close-knit musicians gives the project cohesion, with each instrument finding its place in the collective dialogue.
Kevin Saura – guitar
Roman Dauneau – bass
Félix Joveniaux – drums
Philippe Ciminato – percussion
INSTAGRAM: https://www.instagram.com/kevinsaura_group/
Cesar Haas
Brazil
César Haas is a Brazilian jazz guitarist, composer, educator, and Director of the WSU Brazilian Jazz Fest. He is an Assistant Professor of Jazz and Classical Guitar at Washington State University and holds a Doctor of Musical Arts degree from the Eastman School of Music. Haas has performed throughout Brazil and the United States with acclaimed artists including Ken Peplowski, Scotty Barnhart, Bobby Militello, Karrin Allyson, Nelson Faria, and Rafael Barata.
He was featured on Nelson Faria’s renowned Um Café Lá em Casa series and recorded the soundtrack for the documentary Doutor Araguaia, which has been screened at film festivals across Brazil and Europe. Haas’s recordings include Brazilian Images featuring Bobby Militello, as well as collaborations with trombonist Dave Glenn (from legendary Gerry Mulligan big band), released through German label G2 Records & Publishing. As a bandleader, he has toured extensively in Brazil and the United States, presenting original music that blends Brazilian traditions with contemporary jazz.
Cesar Haas – guitar
Pravin Chettri – bass
Navin Chettri – drums
INSTAGRAM: https://www.instagram.com/cesarhaas/
Cadenza Collective
The Cadenza Collective, led by drummer and composer Navin Chettri, is one of the most distinctive and eclectic bands to emerge from Kathmandu. The group moves seamlessly across jazz, afro-funk, and Nepali folk music, creating a genre-bending sound that’s irresistible to both the ears and the booty. In addition to pumping vitality into Nepal’s improvised music scene, Cadenza has performed worldwide and collaborated with a long list of Western and traditional Nepali musicians. The band has seven albums of original music to its name—the latest release, the singles The Mountain Tickled My Feet and Selo Groove, in 2026.
Navin Chettri – vocals and drums
Rajat Rai – guitar
Inap Raj Shrestha – tenor Sax
Pravin Chhetri – alto Sax
Samir Chettri – bass
Zach Fawcett – trumpet (guest artist)
Nick Aggs Quartet
Australia
Nick Aggs first played in Kathmandu in 2002, at the first-ever Jazzmandu, with the acclaimed Australian fusion band Afro Dizzi Act. Now he returns to the festival for the eighth time, with a new quartet featuring long-time collaborators from Australia, Singapore and the USA. Originally from Brisbane and now based in Singapore, Nick has built a career as a performer, composer and bandleader, appearing at major festivals throughout Asia, the Middle East and Australia. He has fronted numerous musical ensembles and collaborated with esteemed musicians including Trilok Gurtu, Jesse Van Ruller, Jali Buba Kuyateh and others.
Joining Nick are Ant Aggs, his brother and a fellow founding member of Afro Dizzi Act; Mike Hicks, Nick’s long-time musical partner from his years in Shanghai; and Alex Brindell, a Singapore-based drummer and regular collaborator. The quartet’s music is rooted in deep grooves, lyrical improvisation and infectious rhythmic energy, blending contemporary jazz, funk and global influences to create a sound that spans the world.
Nick Aggs – Saxophone
Ant Aggs – Keys
Alex Brindell – Drums
Mike Hicks – Bass
Kanta Dab Dab
Nepal
Kanta dAb dAb through sitar, bass and percussion blends ethnic, traditional, Nepali classical and various western musical influences to create a groovy, soulful cross genre music which is distinctly contemporary with Nepali sound. The band uses traditional and folk music of Nepal in a contemporary music format with a belief that the musical heritage of Nepal is an inspiration and a source for any musicians and its scholars. Kanta dAb dAb is also a co-founder of the only free folk/indigenous music festival in Nepal called Echoes In The Valley, Festival of Music.
The band also draws its inspiration from its three band members’ eclectic experiences working as music professionals in the front line of the music scene in Nepal for more than two decades. The band members Riju Tuladhar, Sunit Kansakar and Nikhil Tuladhar are considered as veteran musicians of Nepal having mastered their respective music instruments
Nikhil Tuladhar – Drums
Sunit Kansakar – Sitar
Rizu Tuladhar – Bass
Hot Club of Patan
Nepal
The Hot Club of Patan (HCOP) is a collective of musicians based in the Patan area of Kathmandu, Nepal, come together under their passion for Jazz Manouche music HCOP’s music is heavily rooted in the timelessly classic sound of the 1930’s and 40’s jazz stylings of Stephane Grapelli and Django Reinhardt; the Hot Club Du Paris.
They are a highly improvisational band and incoroporate a mutitude of rhythmical styles including swing, bossa and valse. They are well known for interpreting traditional nepali pop songs from Narayan Gopal and other musical legends of the 60’s and 70’s; they put their own spin on these classics, translating them
into the jazz manouche style.
HCOP has become instrumental in disseminating a genre of music that is growing in popularity in Nepal
Band Menmbers:
Guitar: Chakra
Guitar: Rigzin
Guitar: Sovan
Vocal: Kunzanne
Double bass: Riken
WEBSITE: https://hotclubofpatan.com/en/
INSTAGRAM:https://www.instagram.com/hotclubofpatan/
gandharva
Gandharva (Nepal)
The Gandharvas historically are known as the link between the heavens and earth, bringing messages from the heavens to the people on earth.
Up until very recently, the Gandharvas earned their living, traveling from village to village around the difficult mountainous terrain, to bring news to the people in the ages before radio, television, and the internet. They are commonly known as “Walking Newspapers.”
Eastern Classical Musicians
EASTERN CLASSICAL MUSICIANS
Jonisha Poudel, vocals
Jonisha Poudel is one of Nepal’s accomplished exponents of khayal. Trained initially in Nepal,she is currently pursuing a PhD at Rabindra Bharati University,Kolkata,while studying khayal and thumri under Maestro Debapriya Adhikary.A recipient of theYuva Pratibha Samman (2019),she has performed widely,including a solo concert at the National Cultural Academy,and has also sung for Nepali films.
Santosh Bhakt, ishraj
Santosh Bhakta Shrestha has dedicated himself to the ishraj for two and a half decades,and has achieved tremendous mastery on this classical instrument.A pupil of Mohan Joshi,Shrestha has performed and toured in Nepal and abroad,and has contributed to hundreds of recordings.
Roshan Putwar, bamboo flute
Roshan Putwar is a musician and researcher dedicated to preserving the rich arts of
Eastern classical and Nepali traditional music.Collaborating with numerous Nepali
and international artists,he has performed on more than a thousand stages across India,Kenya,Nepal and more,and represented Nepal at the South Asian Residency 2017.