Jaipur, Feb 24 (IANS): The Jaipur Jazz and Blues Festival, a world-class music festival, will be held here from February 28 to March 1. The three-day festival will be organised by Seher India in association with Unesco and Rajasthan Tourism.

The audience would be able to enjoy the performances by artistes free of cost at the iconic Central Park in Jaipur -- a nominated World Heritage City by Unesco, Founder Director, Seher India, Sanjeev Bhargava said on Monday at a press conference.

The event would see performances by 55 musicians from five countries including the US, Canada, Cuba, Germany and India.

Bhargava said that Jazz has its genesis as the music of the oppressed and expression of slavery in the US and came to be known as the voice of resilience and defiance against the oppressors.

"Today, this genre has far greater relevance with tremendous resonance with the youth of our country. Music and culture are not the prerogative of the elite or any one section of the society. The festival has thus been kept open and free for all to attend," he added.

On the occasion, Additional Director, Rajasthan Tourism, Sanjay Pande said that with the Jaipur Jazz & Blues Festival, Rajasthan Tourism is bringing to the state a new genre of music.

Seher India has curated an assorted mix of contemporary, fusion, Latin and mainstream Jazz as well as electric, punk and soul-blues on a single platform, making it a destination festival for music lovers.

Among the notable musicians participating in the festival are Sungazer (USA), Kirk MacDonald (Canada), Joao Bittencourt (Brazil), Bianca Gismonti Trio (Brazil), Nikhita Gandhi (India), Dhruv Visvanath (India) among others. Seher has also partnered with ShareChat as its social media partner of the festival.

Seher, India's premier cultural organization was the one to conceptualize and start the first-ever major scale jazz festival in India, the Delhi Jazz Festival, in 2011.