Although not exactly Southeast Asia’s Glastonbury, Jazzmandu is attended by 16,000 people each year, with concerts and musical collaborations at some of Nepal’s most historic sites. It culminates in a daylong jazz jam at the Gokarna Forest Resort, a lush spa on the outskirts of Kathmandu. The event is a way to explore the Nepalese capital’s best bars and areas while soaking up world-class music.

Currently, the line-up is 70 percent visiting artists and 30 percent homegrown talent. But that’s changing, thanks in no small part to Mariano Abello, a flamboyant Argentine-born, American-trained woodwind expert who co-founded the Kathmandu Jazz Conservatory (KJC) in 2007 on the other side of the traffic-choked Kathmandu Valley. Nestled in the leafy suburb of Patan, the KJC and its coffee shop ooze cool, with rock stars idly roaming around. When I arrive Nepal’s biggest pop band, 1974, are rocking out in the recording studio.

A passion project for Abello – ‘it makes no money, just breaks even’ – the conservatory’s mission is to nurture jazz musicians in Nepal. There were virtually none, Abello says, when he arrived. Nearly 10 years later, local graduates have become teachers, while others have gone on to form internationally successful bands. ‘We have 150 students right now,’ says Abello. ‘We used to have 450, then there was the earthquake. The following day we had none.’ In the wake of the major earthquakes of 2015, learning jazz was not a priority, with students scattering back to their hometowns to help rebuild their homes and lives.