Seeking Jazz in Bishkek

All About Jazz carried a story a few weeks ago by Mark Sabbatini about seeking jazz in Kyrgyzstan. He made a four day stop in the country as part of a larger trip around the world seeking jazz musicians in the remote corners of the world. While he only saw one gig while there, he says that he found enough promise to go back in warmer months. (For example, a second international jazz festival — find details here — will be held in April 2007.)

Much of the article is travelogue detailing Sabbatini’s quest to find evidence of jazz in Bishkek. Thinking the quest perhaps hopeless, he also tried to get out of the city a bit. Though all he found was one somewhat pedestrian performance, his search is an interesting reason to have visited Bishkek, and the article is worth a read.

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Nathan Hamm – author of 2040 posts on Registan.net.

Nathan founded Registan.net in 2003. He was a Peace Corps Volunteer in Uzbekistan 2000-2001 and received his MA in Central Asian Studies from the University of Washington in 2007. Since 2007, he has worked full-time as an analyst, consulting with clients on Central Asian affairs, specializing in how socio-cultural factors shape risks and opportunities. Follow him on Twitter or drop him a line.