Top American jazz artists to perform in Kenya

The first concert will be at the Uhuru Gardens grounds in Nairobi and will feature Italy’s Double Cut band and Kenyan guitarist Kato Change whereas the second concert will be at the Hell’s Gate National Park in Naivasha. Kenyan band, AdHoc will be the supporting act.

The two concerts have been organised by telecom company Safaricom in partnership with Music Works International.

Safaricom CEO Bob Collymore said that after the Safaricom Jazz Lounge, Miller will headline the Safaricom International Jazz Festival scheduled to take place from 11 to 17 February 2019.

“We are honoured to be yet again hosting one of the most influential jazz musicians in the world for the concerts in October. As we promised when we launched Safaricom Jazz in 2014, we will keep bringing world-class talent for Kenyan jazz fans,” he said.

For the Naivasha concert, Safaricom has partnered with Enashipai Resort to give the public affordable rates.

“We are glad to partner with Safaricom for this edition. It will be an opportunity for us to showcase Kenya to the performers from the United States and remind Kenyans what a beautiful country we live in,” Enashipai Resort boss Andy Muir said.

Change told Music In Africa that music performing platforms such as Safaricom Jazz Lounge and Roots Internationl's Thursday Night Live have popularised jazz music in Kenya.

“Kenyan jazz music is growing,” he said. “We are at a point where people are starting to appreciate and understand the diversity of this music today. Most Kenyan Jazz artists are fusing with so many traditional genres. I can comfortably say that Kenya is slowly getting its own Jazz identity.”

Change spoke about the importance of exposing musicians to a global stage.

“Watching great musicians on YouTube is different from experiencing them live," he said. "Safaricom has exposed many local musicians to the international standards by giving them the opportunity to perform with the best from around the world. This has inspired us to up our standards and keep pushing to make the jazz scene better.”

Proceeds from the ticket sales will be donated to the Ghetto classics music programme, which has been the Safaricom Jazz beneficiary since 2014 and has so far received about 60 million Kenyan shillings ($) and benefited over 1 400 poor youth from Nairobi and Mombasa.