Bio

Press Quotes:

“Any band is only ever as good as its drummer and this one is surprisingly good.”
Sting, Walking on the Moon, Men’s Journal (England)

“Chettri is a gifted chant-and-scat vocalist and a creative drummer whose foundations constantly elevate even average performances from other players.”

Mark Sabbatini, www.allabout jazz.com

“Multi-talented Navin who with Cadenza has put Nepali jazz on the map, locally and internationally”
Neal Sellers, Jazz Chord (Australia)

Navin Chettri is a percussionist, vocalist, composer, educator and the founder & Artistic Director of The Kathmandu Jazz Festival (Jazzmandu) and “Drum Jatra” Percussion Festival in Nepal and the Artistic Director of the World Music Celebration at the Lionel Hampton School of Music in the U.S.

A Hampton Scholar, Navin received his Master’s in percussion performance and composition from the Lionel Hampton School of Music at the University of Idaho. His background and knowledge of music are a blend of Nepali folk music, Indian classical influences, West African/ Afro -Cuban /Brazilian rhythms and jazz and has traveled around the world performing at prestigious venues and festivals, including the ELB Jazz Festival in Hamburg/Germany, La Baiser Sale in Paris, ShapeShifter Lab and Drom in NYC, New Orleans Heritage Jazz Festival (panelist), Palmer Street Jazz Festival in Australia, Ghana National TV and numerous other venues in Asia, Europe, Africa, and the US.

Leader of the band Cadenza Collective, Chettri is considered a pioneer and a driving force behind the growth of Jazz in Nepal. With six albums to date, the band’s latest album, Himalayan Songlines, was released in October 2019 and is further evidence of his interest in pushing musical boundaries. With their unique jazz, Nepali-afro-funk sound, far from popular mainstream music, their previous album Back To the Roots was nominated in 5 categories for the 2014 Nepal Hits FM Music Awards winning the Best Pop/Rock Composition and Best Pop/Rock Album of the Year.

“Goonj” his band in NYC explores elements of Nepali folk/classical music and jazz with some of New York’s finest musicians from various musical backgrounds. The project is an opportunity to exchange musical energies with artists and friends who have been to Kathmandu Jazz Festival (Jazzmandu) and the collaborations they made in Nepal is something they wanted to recreate and share in NYC. His work with Jamie Baum, a top flutist in NYC, is featured on her CD Bridges, released with Sunny Side Records in 2018. Their performance at the Monterey Jazz Festival was received with great enthusiasm from both the critics and the audience. His other New York based project NepaMali, with Swiss pianist Manu Koch, explores and blends the sounds of the Malian kora with with Nepali rhythms/ folkloric elements and jazz harmonies.

His recent projects include Tabla Forro, a duo with accordion melding Northeastern Brazilian music with Indian rhythms on the tabla (Indian drums) and the Himalayan Duo project consisting of sitar and drum-set, exploring the traditions of Hindustani Classical musical elements with textural and rhythmic sensibilities of jazz drumming. He has also been involved with studying, and practicing sound meditation with the Himalayan singing bowls and has conducted workshops, and sound bath sessions in the Northwest.

Navin has been in the field of music education for more than 20 years teaching music to K-12 through college students. He is the founder of Music Education for School Students and The Music Room/Kathmandu School of Music in Nepal. At the University of Idaho Lionel Hampton School of Music, Navin has served as a professor of percussion and also taught “Music & Rhythm in Global Dances” for the Department of Movement Sciences and at the Washington State University, Navin has served as the Instructor of Jazz Percussion.

As a composer, Navin has written music for a diverse range of musical styles and ensembles. Some of his compositions highlights include, The Mountain Tickled My Feet, written for a string quartet and jazz quintet, commissioned by the Common Tone Festival 2021, OM Sketches of India, commissioned by Rocky Mountain High School Marching Band, Guru Mantra, commissioned by Great Falls Symphony, Cascade String Quartet, and Spiritual Mass, music composed for 100 plus jazz choir and percussion and commissioned for a Prichard Art Gallery event. In 2021, Aisha’s Dream, performed by his band Cadenza Collective was a featured as a sound track for the highly acclaimed Netflix documentary, 14 Peaks.