Ayub Bachchu, one of the most prominent guitarists of the country, has been an avid practitioner of blues music for a long time. A few years ago, he started his project AB Blues Club on the sidelines of his band LRB. At this year's Jazz & Blues Festival – to be held from November 5-7 at the Army Museum field – AB Blues Club is the biggest name from Bangladesh. The veteran spoke to The Daily Star on the festival yesterday.

Tell us a little about AB Blues Club.

AB: We started AB Blues club about eight years back, and have done niche shows whenever we could. Most recently, we paid tributes to BB King after his demise, at Red Shift in Gulshan. But yes, this is the first time such a big festival of this kind is happening, and we're excited to perform.

What are your thoughts on the festival, and what will you be performing?

AB: It's a proud occasion for the country's music scene. A legend like John McLaughlin is coming with his group 4th Dimension; China Moses and Soulmate are also great groups. We will be doing a number of Bangla songs that are, in essence, blues. I want to show the world that blues can be done in Bangla music, if you can do it right. A number of our songs are in blues scale, but we usually perform them in a more rock flavor. For this festival, we are turning them into blues arrangements, and I hope the audience will love it. We will also do a few cover songs, maybe from BB King and Stevie Ray Vaughan. But we will be representing Bangladesh, so our target will be to fly Bangladesh's flag high.

Do you think there's a substantial listenership of jazz and blues in Bangladesh?

AB: So far, we have not seen a big crowd of blues listeners, but I'm looking forward to the festival bringing them all out at one place. I believe there are many discerning listeners of blues and jazz music, and this festival will bring them together. I hope it also generates interest about blues music here.

What's the lineup of AB Blues Club?

AB: It's my usual lineup (of LRB): Swapan, Masud, Romel and me, and a friend of mine, Sasha, will play saxophone. Wherever I play, I play with the same lineup, because I think it's difficult to work with different sets of musicians.