A house for live music | 10 years of The Piano Man, Delhi’s jazz club and cafe

When Arjun Sagar Gupta started The Piano Man in 2015, he wanted to build a space where musicians could play freely and audiences could listen without distraction. What began as a small idea in Delhi soon became one of the most loved spots for live jazz and Western music in India. Over the last 10 years, the club has grown into a meeting place for artists, students, and music lovers — a space that values sound, community, and the joy of performance.

This year, The Piano Man Jazz Club turns 10, and the celebration is as much about the people as the music. Gupta and his team are expanding to new cities and have built their own software to better manage artists and venues.

The Federal spoke to Arjun Sagar Gupta about a decade of programming live music, surviving a black-swan shock, and why the club now thinks beyond genres to build a culture of listeners.

How did The Piano Man begin? What gap were you trying to fill?

It began slowly, out of frustration with how the live circuit worked—poor infrastructure, patchy professionalism, delayed payments, very basic issues. After a decade of performing across clubs, I wanted to bring simple solutions under one roof and build something that truly stood for music.

In 2010, I unexpectedly entered F&B with a B2B bakery, Cake Away, in Gurugram. One of our clients in Basant Lok asked if I wanted to take over and run a venue. That became The Piano Man Art Café in 2012. In 2014, we opened The Piano Man Garden Café in Gurugram. By 2015, we shut both cafés and committed fully to a music venue—The Piano Man Jazz Club. That was the all-in moment.

Which moments from the last decade stand out?

We’re closing in on 12,000 concerts, so picking one is hard. Some are etched forever: Chick Corea’s concert in Safdarjung (2018) and Herbie Hancock performing last year. Back in 2018, if you told jazz aficionados that Chick Corea would play a small Delhi club, they would have laughed—but it happened.

Another joy has been watching our jam sessions evolve—from nights with two or three musicians (I sometimes had to jump on drums or bass) to evenings with 20–30 players. The point is the arc: a string of small moments turning into a scene.

How did COVID change things?

It was a black-swan event that nearly destroyed the business. We survived by taking on debt—which weakens any organisation. The lesson is to build a runway for the next shock; you can’t assume the world will stay perfect.

Personally and professionally, how has the club shaped you?

I’m a jazz pianist, a Fulbright scholar in American contemporary music and composition. We opened as a space for jazz; with our 10-year anniversary, programming has swung back strongly to jazz.

As the brand grew (including Gurugram and later Lodhi Colony), our mission shifted from “genre-first” to “listener-first”: get more people to make live music part of their lifestyle. If you love, say, ghazals, we’ll bring you in for that—and then gently widen your palette. Unlike algorithmic funnels that keep you where you are, our goal is to expand taste through live experiences.

How has Delhi’s music culture evolved since you opened?

Think in terms of listeners, venues, artists. Fifteen years ago, you’d struggle to find five or six Western non-commercial shows a month. Today The Piano Man alone programs around 200 shows a month, and many other venues are active. That growth proves there’s an audience.

For artists, two drivers matter: education and exposure. Exposure isn’t the exploitative “play for exposure”; I mean contact with new sounds. We hosted a Swiss indie act (with Pro Helvetia) and Estonia’s Puuluup—they call their style “zombie folk,” playing ancient talharpas with loopers. Unless you’d heard them, that sound didn’t exist for you. Once exposed, artists and listeners can make informed choices—and then pursue education via schools or online resources. That’s where scenes truly grow.

How do you win over people who walk in without a ‘music-first’ mindset?

By stacking the odds in favour of the stage—sound, lights, sightlines, hospitality. After that, it’s a subjective call: maybe they don’t like that night’s sound. But if the experience is strong, they’ll return and try something else. That’s the conversion we care about.

Has public taste shifted?

Constantly. It’s tied to exposure. Our own capacity expanded from 40 seats to 500 in ten years—that’s telling.

What’s next for the next decade?

Two tracks. First, expansion to other cities—we’re working out the how and when. Second, we built an internal venue-management and artist toolkit software over the last two years; it’s become robust enough to share with the market soon.

If someone wants to experience jazz for the first time, how should they start?

Come to the club and just listen. Our calendars are colour-coded—purple is jazz. Close your eyes and let the musicianship do the work. On 2 October, for instance, Pranay Verma is playing Brazilian repertoire on classical guitar—you’ll feel transported.

How do artists find your stage—and vice versa?

This is human capital, not “sourcing.” Every performance is a snapshot of an artist’s evolution. Many start at our jam sessions—like Pranay, or Aditya Bhargava, who first came at 13 and is now among the most in-demand players. Beyond that, there’s a daily two-way flow: artists write to us; we reach out; our team curates. It never stops—and that’s how it should be.

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