A memorable African Jazz experience at Safaricom Jazz, International Jazz Day celebration

I’m still buzzing from all the excitement at Safaricom Jazz, International Jazz Day celebration. I had the time of my life. I walked in ready to enjoy the African Jazz music and that’s exactly what I got. 

Laka Waithaka, Shamsi Music.

Shamsi music and Nairobi horns project are now on top of my list as my favorite Jazz band in Nairobi.  I loved how Shamsi music graced the occasion by adorning African print attire. They looked so good and the moment I saw them on stage I had a feeling they would blow me away with their performance. 

The band had amazing visuals as their background while they played African beats that got us up on our feet.  They took us back in history where people wore clothes made of  animal skin and  Laka Waithaka, saxophonist  did a short African narration where he summoned the ancestors it was so much fun,all through the African beats kept us on our feet. Good job Shamsi  Music I’d love to watch you perform again, your live performance was more than I anticipated.

Nairobi Horns Project, Amani Baya

Nairobi Horns project, brought the house down with Amani Baya on the drums, we were all just dancing to the beats. Their performance was fantastic!

Mandla Mlangeni & The Tune Creation Committe

 Mandla Mlangeni and The Tune Creation Committee from South Africa also gave us  lovely show. My highlight was when he was dancing to the drum beats, I liked that, he was entertaining.

Kavutha Asiyo

Kavutha  was the events emcee and she kept us engaged all through . There was a dance off, best dressed individuals received airtime and the overall won a Samsung S10. Kavutha  also performed alongside her husband Jacob Asiyo. She serenaded the audience with her powerful vocals.

Jacob Asiyo

Food and drinks were  in plenty and at an affordable price. There was a section set aside where kids played on the bouncing castle, had their faces painted and a clown on site to play and entertain them. I just love how Safaricom Jazz is a fun filled family event, everyone is well catered for at the venue.

I spotted fashionable individuals and I’ll share that on my next blog post. I loved how some of you put your African Print attire together for this special day. 

Sylwester Ostrowski & The Jazz Brigade ft Dorota Miskiewicz- Freddie Hendrix’s performance was great.  Dorota’s performance was really good, she did a Solo performance where she made some interesting sounds and sang  in her native language Polish. 

Amina Mohamed, Minister for Foreign Affairs also graced the event and together with Sylvia Mulinge, Chief Customer Officer at Safaricom handed over a cheque of sixteen Million, five hundred and seventy seven thousand,seven hundred and fifty four to the Ghetto Classics.

Paco Sery and Cheick Tidiane’s performance was  the icing on the cake at the event.  They are both very passionate about their music and Paco exuded it from the way he played the drums. Cheick  played beautiful music on his keyboard and they left me wanting more. They sure did wow the crowd. I hope I can have a chance to see them perform another time.

Overall I totally enjoyed the All star African Jazz line up, all ready looking forward to the next Safaricom Jazz event.


Photo Credits : Smith Hempstone & Tek Productions