At the Alliance Française Hyderabad library, jazz found an unexpected companion on Saturday evening: anime. As teenagers and adults settled into the cosy space, the room slowly filled with conversations about music, anime and the connection between the two, especially the jazz sounds that often slip into the background of your favourite show.
The Anime & Jazz workshop by Hyderabad-based saxophonist and educator George Hull brought the two worlds together in a way that felt less like a formal music lesson and more like discovering something familiar in a new light. The setting helped too. Bookshelves, warm lighting, and an intimate arrangement of chairs, bean bags, and bedding on the floor gave the evening an easy, almost living-room-like feel, while attendees listened closely, ready with answers whenever George threw a question their way.
For George, the idea was simple: make jazz easier to understand and, hopefully, easier to love. “We wanted to educate people about jazz music so that when they listen, they understand it. Jazz music is a very rich kind of music, and people should have access to it,” he said, explaining that the workshop was part of a larger effort to introduce the genre to more people in Hyderabad.
The workshop traced the connection through a selection of well-known tracks, beginning with Fly Me to the Moon from Neon Genesis Evangelion, followed by Theme from Lupin III by Yuji Ohno and Tank! by Seatbelts. The session also explored Moanin’ from Kids on the Slope, Blue Giant by Hiromi Uehara, and Vortex by Kamasi Washington, showing how jazz can move from classic standards to contemporary sounds while remaining an integral part of anime storytelling.
The evening moved with George explaining not just what the music sounded like, but how it became part of the stories themselves. That distinction, he believes, is what makes anime’s relationship with jazz particularly interesting. “I’ve been watching anime, and we’ve always known that there’s a bit of jazz in it. We probably are listening to jazz and don’t even know it’s jazz. We’re just trying to create awareness,” he explained.
As he spoke, the room seemed to become a little more attentive, with familiar ideas about anime meeting the nuances of jazz. George also touched upon Japan’s long-standing relationship with the genre and how its appreciation for older forms of jazz has helped preserve a sound that continues to influence popular culture.
For some in the room, the workshop was as much about discovery as it was about music. “I love music and love learning more about it. This Anime & Jazz workshop was amazing, and I loved it,” said one attendee.
The larger hope was to leave the audience with curious ears. George wanted them to return to their favourite shows and perhaps recognise something they had heard many times before. The next time a saxophone line or swinging rhythm appears, it might no longer sound like background music, but like jazz.
By the end, the library had become a small meeting point for two seemingly different cultures. Anime brought the familiarity, while jazz supplied the rhythm, history, and curiosity. And as the evening wrapped up, the hope was simple: that a few listeners would go home, press play on a jazz track, and hear it a little differently this time.
