In the midst of a stage crammed with the usual musical paraphernalia, singers and instruments, aspiring musician and student ManickVennimalai is something of a lone wolf. The gleaming saxophone he holds sets him apart from the pack, as well as the style of the music he plays, a genre that is rarely heard on most stages in the city: jazz. Played behind the closed doors of pubs, bars and coffee shops, “jazz’s emergence in Chennai, started sometime in the 1960s,” according to Eddie Prithviraj, organiser of the Madras Jazz Festival. “There’s always been a community of musicians who play jazz,” says Maarten Visser, a saxophonist and experimental musician.

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