Eric Wainaina, Baaba Maal Live in Concert, Tonight @ The Dome

Baaba Maal will tonight be performing first, at the Nairobi National Museum at an exclusive invite-only event, then there after head down to The Sarakasi Dome, Ngara to perform alongside our very own Eric Wainaina.

Baaba Maal, an internationally renowned artist, is a Senegalese singer, guitarist and also known to play the percussion.

Though Tuesday is not the best of days for an event of such stature it's definitely one you don't want to miss.
See you there...

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Ayub Ogada Live at the Goethe-Institut, Nairobi

This past Saturday I got back to Nairobi all set and eager to see live on stage Ayub Ogada . This, I understand, was his second performance in Kenya since he got back to country, a little over 2 years ago. It was going to be my first to see him perform live. Ayub Ogada stands out as arguably the best known Kenyan musician internationally, though still very much unknown or celebrated in his very own backyard- Kenya. On arrival at the venue, at the Goethe-Institut in downtown Nairobi, I was pleasantly surprised to be greeted by an overflowing hall. It was literally bursting at its seams, figuratively speaking, I could not get a sitting space let alone a place to stand I was by the side door poking my head to see and hear this world music legend. And he certainly didn’t disappoint and more importantly the audience struck a chord with his unique sound and his mastery of the Nyatiti (a lyre-like stringed instrument). There was group of young men (most likely college...

The Case of Local Jazz Concerts and ....The Future

There has been a lot of talk of why Kenya doesn’t attract top notch International Jazz Artists or even field a concert worth its name in terms of quality (staging, sponsorships) enough to entice fans and artists in their world tours. The same issue was also discussed recently in the weekly radio jazz show on Capital FM , Capital Jazz Club , by its presenter, Jack Ojiambo and a couple of other Jazz enthusiasts that were invited in the show. Is this a case of poor promotion, lack of local quorum i.e. a good number of Jazz fans ready to pay for such shows or put simply an issue of cost (to pay for the artists) or what really? And how come our neighbors, the Ugandans have been so successful in this? The fans, at least from the chatter that has been on going through a number of social networking sites, felt we have the capacity to host and field world class concerts worth rousing reviews. And I dare say not just for the promotion and appreciate of International artists but also the...

Jazz 101 as written by TShaka Mayanja

I stumbled upon an article authored by one TShaka Mayanja (Bassist to the Band- BlackRoots Unlimited from Uganda) in the one of Uganda’s Dailies which in a sense validated some of the issues that I raised in a past blog. The article seeks to answer the following answers: Is Jazz music for the elite, “wannabe”, show-offs and the rich? What are the origins of the genre? What constitutes Jazz music? How is Jazz marketed in Uganda? TShaka (Pictured on the Left) kicks off by arguing that the high pricing of the various Jazz Concerts organized tend to attract only those that can afford (who are not necessarily Jazz fans) and there by marginalizing real Jazz fans that would love to attend but cannot afford. He then gives a short and enlightening history of Jazz. He defines the genre -Jazz music- or what constitutes Jazz music. He goes further and outlines the various sub-genres that are within the larger Jazz music. He also argues that a majority of the concerts or shows...

Jazz @ it's Best

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