There is a collection called The Great American Songbook that serves as the Holy Bible for jazz musicians. The tracks listed in it act as "standards" they are supposed to devour down to the last note. So if two artistes from different corners of the world who don't comprehend each other's language were to meet on stage, they'd still be able to converse through the musical medium of the common standards they understand. But that doesn't mean they wouldn't add their own flavours, since a Latin American performer might pepper a track with salsa rhythms. An Indian might add a dash of Hindustani classical. An African would season it with djembe beats. And thus, despite the homogeneous roots that the Songbook lends the genre, there is an improvisational diversity that's inherent to global jazz music, which a festival that debuts in the city seeks to celebrate this weekend.

Called World Jazz Festival, it's spread over two days and features four international acts — Ntando Ngcapu (South Africa), Koh Mr Saxman and Takeshi Band (Thailand), and New York Round Midnight Orchestra and Saskia Laroo (both The Netherlands) — along with two Indian guest performers, sitar player Shakir Khan and vocalist Gayatri Ashokan. Mahesh Babu of Banyan Tree, the events firm that's organising the show, tells us that the inspiration for the event came from European music festivals like the one in the Dutch city of Amersfoort that he'd been invited to attend. It had 18 stages showcasing an eclectic line-up of artistes who performed a wide bouquet of styles within the spectrum of jazz music. "When I saw that, I felt that we must do something on the same lines in Mumbai," Babu says.