Jimmy Dludlu

The Kasarani Indoor Arena was the perfect venue for the December edition of the Safaricom Jazz series that took place on Friday December 5th. Award winning jazz maestro, Jimmy Dludlu, was the headliner of the event. I was familiar with his music, with Echoes From The Past being album and incidentally, single.

The traffic was typically Friday and we ended up getting there 5 minutes just before the show kicked off. I had a VIP ticket and Safaricom did not disappoint. The VIP was a red carpet affair, well serviced by an open bar with a great view of the stage. Speaking of the stage, the set up was impressive. The huge LED displays not only acted as screens for those in the regular tickets seats, but also added to the ambiance with some lovely backgrunds. The MC of the night was the talented and lovely Kavutha Mwanzio-Asiyo.

The opening act was ‘Swahili Jazz Band’. I had heard of the band’s lead singer, Juma Tutu, but had never heard the pleasure of hearing him play. It was worth the wait. The band’s sound is coloured with this wonderful Swahili flavour. They fuse elements of taarab and chakacha into their music, successfully creating a unique sound. Their stage presence was also something special. From their wardrobe that consisted of bright colours and their funky dance moves, their performance was a great way to kick off the night.

After a 15 minute interlude, that left us in the capable hands of DJ D-Lite, the man we’d all been waiting for graced the stage. Backed by his band, Dludlu put up an unforgettable performance. His music has a rich South African influence. The one thing that immediately struck me when he started to play, was his unmistakable passion. The man looked like he was in heaven; like the music was a stairway and he was inviting us to follow him there. The audience followed him there alright, and it wasn’t long before the claps and screams of approval started.

One of the things about sitting in the VIP is that it can easily be the most boring place to sit at a concert, especially a jazz concert, as people may be a bit ‘bougie’. Thankfully, this VIP was full of people who just like me believed that you don’t go to a jazz concert and not get on down at some point. Jimmy Dludlu kicked off the dancing session got off stage and danced with the audience and at some point, some of the audience was on stage showing him some Kenyan moves. Aaron Rimbui, Jacob Asiyo and Kavutha Mwanzio-Asiyo all made musical appearances on stage with Jimmy Dludlu at different points during the show.

Something I noticed that impressed me was that there was a good number of young people, early twenties, at the concert. They (of course) led the dancing session. They also happened to be seated in the VIP (the regular tickets couldn’t get you anywhere near the stage unfortunately) and so this goes to show that contrary to the belief that jazz is for the ‘old’, a good number of young people appreciate it. Dludlu went with the flow, even doing a jazz rendition of the run away hit ‘Y-Tjukutja’.

Dludlu’s last song was a wonderful rendition of the Kenya national anthem.The audience however, wanted more and he gave us one last song. Jimmy Dludlu was amazing on stage. His unmistakable talent and his ability to work the crowd, made for a great show. I do hope he comes to Kenya again. That is a show I would definitely pay to see again.

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The Kasarani Indoor Arena was the perfect venue for the December edition of the Safaricom Jazz series that took place on Friday December 5th. Award winning jazz maestro, Jimmy Dludlu, was the headliner of the event. I was familiar with his music, with Echoes From The Past being album...