Born and brought up in Darjeeling, Samir was steeped in Eastern Classical, reggae, funk, jazz and Latin music from an early age. He joined the jazz and afro-funk outfit Cadenza Collective as a percussionist in 2005, before picking up the bass in 2006.

Today, he performs regularly with the Cadenza Collective, and also with the jazz outfit Le Piro. He has toured in Europe, and has performed at Jazzmandu with international musicians such as Dario Eskenazi, Sachal Vasandani, Mike Del Ferro, Tito Puente Jr, Leni Stern and more.

An experienced teacher, he heads the music departments at Triyog School, Elite’s Co-ed School and Baba Boarding School, and has directed school productions of numerous Broadway musicals.

Inap started out as a self-taught rock guitarist, and trained in jazz guitar before making the transition to his dream instrument, the saxophone, under the tutelage of numerous international teachers at the Kathmandu Jazz Conservatory.

He has almost a decade of experience on the instrument, and is the only established saxophone player on the Kathmandu music scene. He gigs regularly with the jazz and afro-funk outfit Cadenza Collective, and is part of the reggae band Joint Family International.

He has played with a big band put together by KJC and the Nepal Army, and performed at numerous international festivals. He has taught music theory at KJC and worked with the Nepal Music Educators’ Society, and has participated in workshops with renowned international musicians and educators such as Gene Aitken, Bob Sands, Simons Thorsen and Rainer Pusch.

A son of Darjeeling, Rajat picked up the guitar at an early age, influenced and inspired by his musician father. A highly versatile and experienced musician, he has been performing and in Kathmandu since 2002, and teaching for many years.

He is part of the jazz and afro-funk outfit Cadenza Collective, and also the acoustic duo April Rush. He heads the soul and jazz-funk band Street Life Collective, and the jazz band Silver Wind Quartet.

He has performed regularly at Jazzmandu, including with numerous international artists, and has also taken his music to stages abroad. As a teacher, he has worked with the British School, Triyog School and the Kathmandu Jazz Conservatory—where he led the academic department and helped trained the faculty, in addition to looking after rock and jazz combos.

Recognised as one of Nepal’s best sitar players, Ram Kumar Aryal has performed on prestigious stages at such places as Kirateshwar Sangeet Ashram, Yala Maya, Kapan Sangit Sarobar and Kalanidhi Music School, as well as at numerous festivals both at home and abroad. He holds a master’s degree in performing arts from Banaras Hindu University, and has been teaching Tribhuvan University’s Lalitkala Campus for almost a decade.