Cuban Pianist Roberto Fonseca and Malian Musician Fatoumata Diawara to Headline Safaricom Jazz Lounge on 5th November

Safaricom Jazz Festival has become a staple event on the Nairobi festival circuit and has hosted legendary jazz musicians as well as introduced Kenyans to talented but otherwise not as famous musicians since its inception in 2014. 2016 has already seen a beehive of events with the main festival in February hosting Branford Marsalis and a lounge in August hosting Hugh Masekela. A great year of Safaricom Jazz will be wrapped up by Cuban pianist Roberto Fonseca and special guest Fatoumata Diawara from Mali, will be the leading acts at the Safaricom Jazz Lounge to be held on 5^th November at Uhuru Gardens.

Fonseca, who made his debut at the Havana International Jazz Festival at the tender age of 15 in 1990, is an ingenious composer who draws on a wide range of musical traditions and genres. He has released projects such as “Zamazu”, and “Akokan” during his two decade-long career, and in 2015 collaborated with Diawara to release their album “At Home (Live in Marciac)” to rave reviews by music critics.

“The presentation of Roberto Fonseca and Fatoumata Diawara for this edition of Safaricom Jazz is in keeping with our tradition of taking music lovers through a journey of culture, styles and personalities through music. It’s an honour to once again be hosting such highly acclaimed artists, and to be able to use this opportunity to show that Safaricom Jazz is more than just a live music experience; it’s an avenue through which we are transforming lives,” said Bob Collymore, CEO – Safaricom.

Prolific Kenyan afro-jazz band Shamsi Music will open the show, and promises to entertain fans with a lively performance drawn from a repertoire of classics, blues, afro-jazz and contemporary tunes.

The international stars and their band are expected in the country in the next three weeks and will take some time to visit Korogocho, where the Ghetto Classics music programme is based.

Ghetto Classics is funded by proceeds from Safaricom Jazz, and has since its launch in 2008 benefitted close to 1000 youth from underprivileged backgrounds, with over 650 pre-teens and teens currently receiving music lessons each week.

The programme has so far benefitted from over KES 19 million raised since the inaugural Safaricom International Jazz Festival was held in 2014, funds that have gone towards the purchase of music instruments and expansion of the programme beyond Korogocho.

Tickets are available at select Safaricom shops, the Michael Joseph Centre and via M-Ticketing by dialling 1511.