Caroling at The Hub

A random post on the Safaricom twitter handle resulted in a pleasant afternoon of Caroling at the Hub in Karen.

First up were the musical power couple Kavutha and Jacob Asiyo. Kavutha has a beautiful voice and amazing stage presence that makes you just smile. While Asiyo is a magician on the piano. We carolled! Singing along to all the Christmas carols we grew up singing. It was lovely. Comic relief was trying to sing along to the Feliz navidad carol. Everyone knew the first lines but the prospero año y felicidad were only known to Kavutha and Spanish (?) lady who pronounced it perfectly.

Next up was the Safaricom choir. Famous for the Kenya ad some years back. Made up of Safaricom employees who meet once a week to practice. Director is Kennedy Wakia. He was not available so a number of guys debut conducted. Of note was Grace who can sing! Grew up Anglican. Choir music makes me happy. The Safaricom choir sounds even more lovely in real life. Warmed my heart. And they seemed to be having so much fun. Belted out a medley of songs. Climax was Hallelujah.

A group of kids then went on stage to sing for a prize after being prompted by the MC Elizabeth Njoroge. Four children all sang Jingle bells. In different versions and we all laughed. That was fun.

The showstopper was the Safaricom youth orchestra. Special mention goes to EIGHT year old Miguel who played the double bass. Despite the instrument being almost his height he pulled his weight for the entire concert.

The youth orchestra draws membership from music lovers from across the country aged 10-18 years. Now in its fourth year, 150 people have been part of the initiative to-date. Auditions are normally held in May with practice every Saturday for a couple of hours.

The Christmas concert was the culmination of the two terms of 2017. Conducted by Levi Wataka the orchestra showed off their learning for the term. Among other acts they notably did two overtures. One was the barber of Seville where they started slow then build up the tempo to a great climax. It was lovely to see music being made, the many instruments coming together, beautiful.

The choir and orchestra then performed together. Highlight was a song off the Italian Nabucco opera that was based on a biblical story.

The climax of the afternoon was Caroling by the crowd led by the Safaricom choir and the Safaricom Youth Orchestra. The carols were The First Noel, Deck the Halls and Jingle Bells.

All in all a lovely way to usher in the 2017 Christmas season.

GOD BLESS KENYA.

Gigging at the GoDown

I certainly picked a great time to attend my first GoDown gig because the GoDown gig for November was all kinds of awesome.

Hosted by the delightful Cindy Ogana and held at the GoDown Arts Centre it featured three artistes: Chiluba, Maia and the Big Sky band and Dan Aceda.

First act was Chiluba who is a dancer turned singer. He had energy for days and definitely he can dance. Obviously :-). Plus his story is intriguing.

Next up was Maia and the Big Sky band. Maia’s vocals are amazing, she has grown in confidence on stage plus her band is the business. Her No Woman No Cry & Mambo Bado renditions rocked. Her band’s guitar, bass and drums face-off, wow!

Arguably one of Kenya’s best musicians and live-performers Dan Aceda then brought the house down. Folk danced all through his performance which was a lovely musical safari about Kenyan music. Aside from playing his own songs Aceda also did covers of popular Kenyan music from the 60s to-date.  When he played music from the different regions in Kenya his versatility was so evident as was the joy of folk being ‘taken home.’

The GoDown gig is a monthly gig held at the GoDown. It is a celebration of live music performance by Kenyan artistes. Quite a ‘down-to-earth’ artsy gig worth checking out.

GOD BLESS KENYA!