Bushnell
This weekend marked one of the biggest events in the Kenya events calendar; The Nairobi International Jazz Festival. The first one yet that was hosted by Radio Africa Events in partnership with the Twatukuza Trust.
The Jazz festival went down at the Bomas of Kenya Auditorium on Saturday. It brought together people from different countries to celebrate and dance to smooth jazz music. With the star of the show and man of the moment being Jonathan Butler.
The South African artist and songwriter landed in Kenya days before and did a few interviews before his Saturday performance. He did not disappoint, the legendary artist brought the house down with a show-stopping performance that had everyone asking for more.
The event started at 3:00 p.m. with guest Jazz performers and bands from Kenya who started the show at a high note. The music played was muziki bila jasho a mix of rhumba and Lingala in jazz, something the crowd appreciated.
Taking the stage, in between performances was the Classic FM presenter Mike Mondo as the MC of the event. With his prowess voice and unique way of words, he managed to keep the seemingly tough crowd captivated and responding.
Mike being the MC was the perfect choice for a jazz festival that is known to be a genre of music for the upper class who are seemingly cool and composed. An air that Mike Mondo carries himself with.
To confirm the theory of who listens to jazz, was the crowd that attended the event. Full of whites, black Americans, and other foreigners. Kenyans were also well represented and for those high up in different industries, you could tell there were many executives.
The fashion was on point, the crowd understood the assignment. With both men and women adorning brass jewelry as their main accessories. Natural fiber attire in patterns and flattering colors was the theme for most. Even the sales team of DSTV and Safaricom had fancy dresses.
The event ended at midnight with everyone trying to convince Jonathan Butler to perform one more song. The event delivered way more than it had promised.
