Skip to main content

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 kids from the near-by University of Nairobi) singing along with him providing him with much needed back-up support considering he was doing a solo act.

He played, to the audience appreciation, tracks from his debut album, "En Mana Kuoyo". And the evening couldn't be complete without him playing the world-favorite "Kothbiro" track which was the highlight of the evening.

Ayub Ogada combination of sound (both of lyrical content and raw sounds) and of the Nyatiti produces a potent musical quality (much of it in his local language- Luo) that wow-ed the crowd in attendance and he is undoubtedly Kenya’s musical jewel.  

I’m looking forward to seeing more of him in the coming days and months in various local stages.

Welcome home Ayub and we love you and your music!
Labels:

Comments

  1. KarunaOctober 21, 2019 at 5:30 AM

    Nice blog thanks for sharing Re-decorate your messy lawn and fix up your boring old garden with Karuna Nursery Gardens. We offer speciality Garden maintenance services in Chennai. It’s time you made a difference to your backyard.
    plant nursery in chennai
    rental plants in chennai
    corporate gardening service in chennai

    ReplyDelete
  2. Jon HendoJune 1, 2021 at 3:42 PM

    virtual edge. 28 percent of the time that attendees spend exploring the platform before a virtual event is spent browsing exhibitors and 8 percent is spent looking at exhibitor products. thank you letter for a friend examples and find event sponsors

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Jazz & Soul Safari: The Beginnings, The Evolution & Growth, The 10th Anniversary, The Future and A Road Trip to Remember

The Beginnings The dream, the idea, to bring Jazz to the masses across East and Central Africa was first conceived by TShaka Mayanja, a well-known Music Promoter, Producer, Songwriter and Lead Bassist to the band, Blackroots Unlimited. TShaka later shared this idea with his friend and host of the popular Jazz Evening show on Radio One FM, Elijah Kitaka. With support from some generous sponsors the first Jazz Safari concert dubbed, “ The Sizzling Jazz Safari ”, took place on the 19 th December, 2008 right outside Ange Mystique at the parking lot. The event featured Saxophonist Eric Marienthal, drummer Oscar Seaton and host of other local and regional artists. And from that inaugural event Jazz Safari was born and off to a good start. The Evolution and Growth On its second edition, in the following year, it moved from the humble beginning that was Ange Mystique’s car park to set camp at the grand space that is Kampala Serena Hotel’s Victoria Auditorium. More recently, as...
1 comment
Read more

CD Review- Baisikeli By Valerie Kimani

CD Review- Baisikeli Valerie Kimani, winner of Tusker Project Fame Reality Talent Show, secured a 3 year recording contract with Gallo Records,  and produced this stunning ablum Baisikeli. I can say for a fact this is a superb album no doubt about it. It is a mix of slow, mellow and a number of fast-paced tracks covering various sounds. Here, you’re definitely going to pick out unique nuances of South African and East Africa (Uganda and Kenyan) music intonations. The album features renditions of widely played and still fresh tunes like, “Fever” and “Besame Mucho”. And original, vernacular (Kikuyu) tracks like “Ngugi ii” and “Hoi and Hoi” are some of the highlights of this album. Here you can sense the great command of language (this being her native language- Kikuyu) as she belts outs these two incredible tunes to the listener’s appreciation. This affirms my strong believe in that, our greatest strength and potential to sell locally and internationally lies in us doing...
Post a Comment
Read more