In 2017 during the Safaricom International Jazz Festival, the Nairobi Horns Project performed a mashup of Kenyan Genge & Hip-hop songs that had the crowd going wild. For us, it was a collection of new sounds of songs that we grew up to. Songs from Hip-hop artists like E-Sir and Juacali were brought alive by the fusion of trumpets, imagine that. Kenyan old school hip-hop in the form of jazz
I then asked myself how different it would have been if I had listened to that performance from the radio/TV as opposed to a live performance and the honest truth is it wouldn’t be the same.
Live is always better
Several hundreds of artists have performed some of their albums/hit songs/EPs live and there’s always a huge difference – and I always go for live performances. There’s always something so raw and unfiltered about a song being performed live against the studio version.
The same thing applies to the Safaricom Youth Orchestra.
It was hard for the kids to adjust to practicing and performing via Zoom/live link as opposed to hundreds of jazz lovers at the Safaricom Jazz International Festival as well as other events.
So why was it so hard for them?
First, for some of them, jazz is their only escape from the troubles of life. SYO and the Ghetto Classics have for years been instrumental in giving needy children the chance to pursue music despite their backgrounds.
These moments of practice have also been moments of calm, peace and the hope of a better tomorrow through music and through the pandemic, they were plucked away from that moment.
Second, music has opened numerous doors for the kids. They were not only able to improve their musical skills but were also able to improve their academic skills through the lessons learnt from practice.
Third, it’s always better when you play together, right?
Last but not least, there’s something refreshing and uplifting about playing as a group; by bringing together your different talents and skills, it brings together a new kind of sound that doesn’t sound the same as a performance done online.
Bottom line is I’m glad we were able to go through what we went through and I’m also really glad that the Safaricom Youth Orchestra kids were able to perform together again last weekend.
We wish them nothing but the best! 🎷
