We had a place reserved at a world music-fusion jazz gig later in the night, the afternoon we spoke to Louiz Banks, the ‘Godfather of Indian Jazz’. The 82-year-old jazz pianist, singer and composer has been curating the International Jazz Day, now on its 12th edition, with the sole aim to, “ensure that there is a joy of discovering new talent and giving musicians a platform to play”.  Above all, Banks feels jazz is a performance art.

Over the three-hour-long performance, musicians will perform jazz standards and fusion jazz. “We give youngsters who want to play early jazz with conviction a platform,” says Banks, “It’s lovely to see so many youngsters with hidden talent.” Banks himself will perform a fusion set, and there will be other veterans on stage too, such as Mohini Dey, Zian Bhamgara, Arka Chakraborty, Gino Banks, Jean-Christophe Cholet, Shreya Bhattacharya, Avishek Dey, and Satyajit Talwalkar.