INTRODUCING : THREAT BAND KENYA

Evening folks…

As usual, i get to remind us of persons who are taking the industry by storm..

This band is comprised of accomplished musicians who have worked closely with recognized names in the music industry such as Juliani, Neema Ntalel, Kanjii Mbugua, Suzanna Owiyo, Aaron Rimbui, Kaima Mwiti, Redsan, Camp Mulla, Jimmy Gait, Jaguar, Wahu, Habida, Jua Kali among others…

Threat Band Kenya is made up of Richard ‘Reechie’ Wandati (drummer), Tito Monako (Bassist), Ben ‘Gittx’ Gitau (Keys) and Benjamin kabaseke (Guitarist).

Members of the band have also backed and shared a stage with International known acts like Javen (U.S.A), Vivien Green, Benjamin Aggerbaek, Pallek Klok, Louise Hoegh from Copenhagen Denmark, Olivia Mtukudzi from Zimbabwe Jonathan Butler, Israel Houghton, Kirk Franklin, Cece Winans, Deitrick and Damita Haddon.

The band has been apart of numerous concerts and events such as the Safaricom Kenya Live tour 2012, Israel Houghton in Concert, Kirk Franklin in Concert , COP 17 Climate change tour (visiting over five countries in Africa) and Mathewmattix House of Jazz

The band is currently working on their debut album to be produced by one of the members , Gittx of Rhyme-x Productions, to be released later this year.

Being together for over five years the band has acquired music versatility and chemistry, hence the name Threat Band Kenya, which means breaking the boundaries of music creating an exciting, long lasting experience memorable to a performance.

They held a concert dubbed ‘The Peace Regime’ on the 22nd of Feb 2013 to showcase their original sounds and i must say their album will be worth waiting for if the music performed that night was anything to go by.

You can find some of the pics from the concert here.

Have a great week and remember to promote PEACE.

Beautiful Nairobi

 

Greetings and Happy New Year (and yes, as a Kenyan, the expiry date of said statement is towards end of January )

I trust that the year has begun extremely well and that your plans and endeavours will succeed in the coming days.

I spoke to a friend who had gone up to the KICC helipad to take photos of the skyline and the ever magnificent Nairobi City and that conversation prompted me to head up there myself and absorb the scenery.

I also carried my trusted tools (my DSLR and phone) to take some pictures and chase the sunset.

I must say, if you have never been up there, you owe it to yourself to go and have a look for yourself. Amazing doesn’t even begin to describe it.

However, for those who are afraid of heights and such, I thought of you and decided to share what I saw up there.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Enjoy the rest of your week and God bless.

P.S.  Incase you’re new to my blog, feel free to visit and like my Facebook Page here.

Introducing : Kato Change

Hey Guys…

I know that this blog has been super silent.. I guess my guitar has attempted to hijack some of the time i use to share posts and images with you.. but i will try my very best to keep sharing

For this post, I’m not really introducing him per say as he is not new to the scene.. but he is launching out to do much more than he has in the past:

Kato Change ( @thechangekato ) is a Kenyan guitarist that has been in the scene for sometime now. He is a Jazz guitarist and has worked with many Kenyan artists such as Atemi Oyungu, Maia Von Lekow and Ma3 the Band. He has also interacted and shared a stage with International acts such as Omar Lye Fook, James Blunt, Kirk Franklin, Freshly Ground among others.

He also has his own band that he setup ( The Change Quartet ) that had an opportunity to play at The Classical Fusion event sometime back and will be opening for The British Jazz group, Incognito, on the !6th of December.

His music is not only influenced by Jazz groups as he seeks to learn and use elements of different kinds of music and sounds to create a unique sound that appeals to anyone who enjoys good music.

Kato just released his new video and single called Sta.ka.to Featuring a great singer, Miss Lisa Noah.The video is actually a collection of very many images put collectively ( stop motion ) telling an interesting story… the main prop of course being Kato’s fedora that he’s known for wearing most if not all of the time.

The song was produced by one of  Kenya’s coolest producers, Jazz Odongo ( @jaazodongo ) and the video shot and edited by MagiqLens. Find them here —> @MagiqLens_KE

Be among the first to see Kato’s New video  ——-> here.

I also had the chance to take some images when they were shooting the video. Have a look on my Facebook page here.

Have a good week and fabulous month of December.

Introducing: Nicole Mumala Maloba

Hey Folks…

I had a shoot a few days ago with this young and upcoming female singer and thought I’d begin a segment on my blog that talks more about the artists you may/may not know and some things you may never get to hear about them.

Nicole Mumala Maloba is an 18-year old singer songwriter who has begun to cause a stir within the crop of young musicians in Nairobi. Having come from a musical background with her mother being part of the famous ‘Muungano’ choir, she started her musical journey very young. By age 6 she was participating in Christmas musicals and carols begun writing songs at the age of 10. Her 2^nd grade teacher called her a young ‘Miriam Makeba’, but Nicole had never heard of her until she discovered her music and fell in love.

She also grew up listening to the sounds of legends that her elder siblings listened to, such as Racheal Ferrell, Jill Scott, and Yvonne Chaka Chaka amongst others.

While studying in Nairobi International School, she met the current Penya – Africa Director, Natalie Lukkenear who mentored and encouraged her to join ‘Sauti Academy’ which is a one-year music program designed to manage talent and develop artists.

The budding musician believes that for her to continue to grow and learn more about music she surrounds herself with mentors such as June Gachui, Edie Grey, Tim Rimbui, Dempsey Omwenga and Elani

Mumala has performed at various events such as the Kinanda Arts Festival, Soul for Soul Concerts, Chords and cords unplugged show and private events as well. She has also sung background vocals for Songstress June Gachui giving her the opportunity to share a stage and meet Grammy Nominee, Joe Thomas during a grand concert earlier in the year.

She is definitely one of the female vocalists to look out for in the coming months.

Here’s a few images from the shoot..

House of Jazz: Asali and the Threat Band

Hey Guys.

I got the opportunity to attend a evening of great music at the Goethe Institute this past Tuesday.

The event dubbed ‘House of Jazz’, organized by Mathew ‘Mathewmatix’ Rabala, a well-known drummer and musician, is a space created to showcase great talent and amazing musical acts among us here in Nairobi.

This edition featured two artists, each with their own distinct sounds:

Asali, who is a singer and poet, graced the stage with incredible energy.

Her performance stirred various reactions on the faces of many but one this is for sure: She can definitely put up a show!!

Soon after, the Threat Band got up and brought a twist of Jazz coupled with sweet African rhythms.

The four piece band comprising of Tito Monako (Bass, Lead Vocal) , Benjamin Kabeseke (Lead Guitar, Lead Vocal) , Ben ‘Gittx’ Gitau (Keyboards, Lead Vocal) and Richard Wandati (Drums) shook up the crowd with their songs and remarkable arrangements. They were also featured Kaima Mwiti, who is undoubtably one of Kenya’s leading keyboard players.

Some of the musicians within the crowd constantly cheered on the artists of the evening while some of them took mental notes.

All in all, both acts threw down and the next edition of this show should be soon.

As usual, you can view all the photos taken here on my Facebook Page here and for the first time.

Some of the photos have quite a bit of ‘noise’..but that shouldn’t get in the way… at least i hope not

You can view a sneak pic video of part of the show here.

 

Blessings galore and a great weekend

 

KigaliUp Festival 2012

Greetings

With the cold weather that’s been around this month, I suggest you a reason to get that hot mug of chocolate and a blanket for this one.

I bear greetings from Kigali (waves hand in the air)…  Have you received them?! (Their equivalent of “Hello” in Rwandese is “Bite”)

Having gotten the opportunity to head to Kigali over the weekend for a festival (which I’ll give details in a minute), it felt like such a vacation, despite the fact I was heading there for a gig. Everything about the city is refreshing… from the people to the environment… Kigali is a BEAUTIFUL city. I can honestly say I saw TWO pieces of paper on the side of the road all through our two-day stay. All the roads are carpeted and the sidewalks properly marked.  I got to ride on a “mota” which is Kenya’s equivalent to a boda boda… FUNTIMES .. and get this… THERE IS ABSOLUTELY NO TRAFFIC… Unlike Nairobi, where the round-about is manned by traffic lights ( which may be faulty BTW), and a cop, the traffic lights have a computerized timer that counts down depending on which direction you’re headed.. How cool is that?! Quite cool is the accurate response.

Enough about the city… Here’s a brief history and recap of the Festival

The KigaliUp Festival is a vision that Juno Award-winning Rwandan-Canadian artist, Mighty Popo, had to create a Rwandan/Canadian co-production that aims to develop the Rwandan music industry and expose the country’s artists to the outside world.

The second edition of KigaliUp Music took place last weekend at the Amahoro Stadium in Remera, Kigali which is in the heart of the city. The first ever KigaliUp was held in September 2011 and it featured 30 Rwandan, East African, French and Canadian artists performing on 2 stages to a diverse audience of 2500 people.

This year’s edition featured musicians from different countries in Africa as well as abroad. Ma3 (@ma3theband) went to represent Kenya with the help of Resolution Health. West Africa was well represented by celebrated African artist Ismael Lo from Senegal and Steven Sogo from Burundi. Corey Harris, who is an American Blue artist, represented the US while Tumi and the Volume from South Africa brought in a hip-hop set and Zimbabwean mbira master Chiwoniso came from the south. King James, Ingoma Nshya and Ikobe were the main acts showcasing Rwandan Music together with other local bands.

With 2 Mega stages set-up within the stadium grounds, the audience had enough to choose from with music running from 1pm-11pm. The artists also lead workshops on different genres of music during the morning hours, which I thought was remarkable.

All in all, the energy from both the crowd and the artists themselves was unbelievable.

Here are a couple of pictures to describe what went down.

 I’d like to say a special thanks to Sam who was/is the kindest host on earth for taking care of Ma3 and literally being there before we got to each venue.

I trust you enjoyed the post and the pics as well. For the rest of the shots, you can visit SucrePix (My Facebook Page) here. 

We also travelled with a good friend of the band, @reumac, who took photos of us on stage. Check out the rest here.

 

I had a fabulous time and I hope to head back there soon, both to Kigali and the festival as well.

P.S  For more info on the Festival, visit their website here.

Oh, if you still crave Fanta Citrus, Kigali still has it in circulation.

 

Have a good week y’all.

DRUM JAM: JUNE EDITION

Peoples of the internet…!!   After many weeks of silence, I return with a follow-up of a number of posts on the monthly event known as Drum Jam. I’d like to call this particular post a story of inspiration:

Many upcoming and even established musicians in our beloved country have been asking for a forum/platform to share experiences, knowledge and motivation amongst themselves.

I believe Ngoma Inc., managed by Muhati Carey together with Mathew (Mathayo) Rabala have bridged that gap using a jam session otherwise known as Drum Jam.

For the last two editions (May and June) have focused a lot on teaching and sharing technique, rather than individuals ‘showing off’ their skills. For this particular edition, however, they featured a band comprising of young and vibrant youth who have been growing with every performance.

Sarabi, who had just come from a tour in Europe, gave an impressive performance for those who attended the event. You can view a clip taken of one of their songs they did here.

 

Here are some pics of the show…

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

As usual, find the rest of the pics on my Facebook Page here… Feel free to comment and share this post.

 

Blessings in the coming week.