American Smooth Jazz Saxophonist Kirk Whalum will be performing in Uganda for the Annual Nile Gold Jazz event
The Jazz & Soul Safari – an annual celebration of Jazz and Soul Music in East Africa will be hosting renown Jazz Musician Kirk Whalum and RnB artists Karyn White and Gerald Albright for this year’s edition of the festival on 2nd October, 2015 at the Kampala Serena Hotel. This is the eighth edition of the annual Nile Gold Jazz Safari project conceived by TShaka ‘Roots’ Mayanja in 2008.
Jubia Travel Group is organising a trip to Kampala, Uganda for the 8th Annual Nile Gold Jazz Safari to all Kenyan Jazz Lovers. The package will cater for Transport, Accommodation , Tickets & City site touring. The travel will be as From Thursday 1st October to Sunday 4th October 2015 at a cost of Ksh. 30,000 per person. Get full details here.
Kirk Whalum
Kirk Whalum is an American smooth jazz saxophonist and songwriter. He toured with Whitney Houston for more than seven years and soloed in her single “I Will Always Love You”, the best-selling single by a female artist in music history.
He has recorded a series of well received solo albums and film soundtracks, with music ranging from pop to R&B to smooth jazz. Kirk’s musical accomplishments have brought him a total of 12 Grammy nominations. He won his first Grammy award in 2011 for Best Gospel Song (“It’s What I Do”, featuring Lalah Hathaway) alongside lifelong friend and gifted writer, Jerry Peters.
Karyn White
Karyn White, a winner of two Stellar awards, gospel music’s highest honour and a Grammy for his song It’s What I Do, is considered by many to be one of the most distinctive voices in the music business.
She is more popularly known for her smash hit Superwoman, and is the first female artist to have her first three solo releases hit No.1 on the R&B charts.
Gerald Albright, one of the biggest stars in contemporary jazz, is a more well-known face at the Nile Gold Jazz Safari. He is one of the most awarded and recognised stars in the genre, playing at the inauguration of the then US president Bill Clinton, who is himself a huge jazz fan.
About the Nile Gold Jazz Safari
The festival is the brainchild of Tshaka Mayanja, Ugandan born musician, producer, bass player and long time music promoter heavily influenced by Reggae, Jazz, and Funk. Tshaka introduced the idea to his friend Elijah Kitaka the host of the popular Jazz Evenings show on Radio One every Sunday. TShaka named it ‘The Sizzling Jazz Safari’
Together, they partnered and organized the very first Jazz Safari, which was held outdoors in the Ange Mystique Car Parking Yard on 19th December 2008. The concert featured US Jazz luminaries Eric Marienthal on the Saxophone and Oscar Seaton Jr on drums. Others were TShaka (Bass), Pragmo (Piano), Henry Holder (Keyboards/Synths), Deziray Eric Bucumi (Lead Guitar), Michael Ouma (Acoustic/Rhythm Guitar) and Wakake Otieno (Percussions).
TShaka then approached several sponsors to fund the second Jazz Safari, as the vision is to have this event annually. MTN Uganda and Nile Breweries (with their Nile Gold Brand) answered the call in the affirmative! Later, The Vision Group (New Vision and Vision Voice) came on board as the Official media partner.
THE VISION
The dream for the Jazz Safari project is to promote Jazz, Funk & Soul in East Africa. TShaka Mayanja started out as a Reggae singer/songwriter/producer, then moved on to promote stadium size Reggae concerts in Uganda for 10 years! These had Reggae legends like Third World, Aswad, UB40, Shaggy, Shabba Ranks, Buju Banton, Chaka Demus & Pliers, Papa San, Spanner Banner and others. This gradually made Reggae music so popular in East Africa, it’s now the most popular and most followed genre in the region. Consequently, TShaka wants to do the same for Jazz, Soul and Funk music; make it mainstream music in the region. Through The Jazz Safari tours, we hope to achieve this goal.
THE FUTURE
The Jazz Safari in conjunction with various music schools, is going to facilitate Jazz studies in East Africa. This is the only way Jazz will be sustained in this region; having many youth learning instruments and the theory of music. Legendary guitarist Chuck Loeb has already started a Foundation/project that is going to collect musical instruments from various US and European musicians. These will be shipped out and distributed to the students in the music schools FOR FREE! Eric Marienthal, Oscar Seaton and Gerald Albright have all joined us in spreading the word. We shall also have Jazz Clinics every year and in every country where the Jazz Safari will be.