Surrender to musical evenings at Jaipur lit fest

Evenings at the upcoming Jaipur Literature Festival will be audiovisual treat for music lovers as they will be treated to Africa's traditional nomadic melodies along with Rajasthani folk, Indie-pop and classical jazz.

"The Musical Stage", on the sidelines of the five-day literary event, will begin here Jan 17 and will be hosting musical wizards from around the globe.

Grammy Award winner Tinariwen -- a band of Tuareg musicians from northern Mali in Africa, Rajasthani folk artists, composer-singer Karsh Kale, Indian electronic band Midival Punditz will bring evenings alive after a heavy day of literati debates and discussions.

The musical sidelight is scheduled for four days from Jan 17.

On the opening day, giving a glimpse of sophisticated rhythms of India, will be Jaipur Kawa Brass band who have given many international performances with their riotous trumpets, clarinets and loud, clattering drums.

Other performances include Rajasthani folk music and dance, Delhi-based band Ska Vengers, sarangi player Suhail and the Sufi gospel project.

The festival is also hosting two Nobel Prize winners, Amartya Sen and Harold Varmus, Order of the British Empire (OBE) awardee Mary Beard and teacher of classics at Cambridge University and Pulitzer Prize winner Jhumpa Lahiri.

British writer Samantha Shannon, actor Irrfan Khan and boxer Mary Kom will also address sessions.

The Jaipur Literature Festival is an annual event, billed as the world's largest free literary festival. The first of these festivals began on a small scale as part of the Jaipur Heritage International Festival in 2006.