Great musical fusion at Michael Joseph Centre

Kenyan jazz musician Eddie Grey looked at the room full of music fans at the Michael Joseph Centre in Westlands last Wednesday night and made a confession.

“I was expecting a maximum of 20 people tonight but the turn out has made me realize that this auditorium is not so large after all.”

Arriving on stage, sharply turned out in an all black suit, Eddie introduced the evening by playing his guitar to “Maathai’s Medley,” a somber and heartfelt tribute as the backdrop on stage reeled out photographs of memorable moments in the life of the late Nobel Laureate.

Kidnapped

Eddie, a jazz guitarist, composer and producer was the host of this year’s Daniel Pearl Music Days an international network of concerts dedicated to the American journalist who was kidnapped and murdered in 2002 while on assignment in Pakistan. In the last 10 years the network has grown to include 1,600 performances in 65 countries, including Kenya.

Daniel Pearl, was also a talented musician who joined bands in every community in which he lived, leaving behind a long trail of friends spanning the entire world.

The global events pay tribute to Pearl during the month he was born by holding concerts to spread a message of peace and unity through the music.

The second song of the night was one that was instantly picked up by the crowd as soon as the familiar bass line kicked in.

Eddie who has been known to experiment with jazz versions of classic Swahili pop songs like “Malaika” and “Sina Makosa” this time turned Michael Jackson’s “Human Nature” into a funky guitar rendition. You could hear the voices of the audience singing “why, why…tell them that its human nature” along with this instrumental piece.

Mentor

Incidentally Eddie says he was influenced to pick up the guitar when he found his brother playing a Michael Jackson tune on the instrument. He released his first album “No Trains to Kibera” in 2007 and the follow up “Stories by the Lake” is out before the end of the year.

It was then time to call up on stage the first of several guest artistes of the show and a musician who Eddie looks up to as a mentor.
“This was the first guy to trust me enough to give me my first gig,” he said, while introducing saxophonist Chris Bitok for a duet of a Miles Davis standard.

For anyone looking for an initiation into the music, the absolute starting place would be the work of the late trumpeter, widely acclaimed as the most famous jazz musician of all time.

Thumping rendition

The energy of this night moved several notches higher with the arrival of Madagascan bassist Danz Nirina and his compatriot Nalan on percussions.