Gogosimo band leader releases new album

I caught up with James Gogo as his band – Gogosimo - performed at the Hotel Intercontinental in Nairobi last Thursday evening.

The band plays Soul, Jazz and African music every week and this is just one of five busy nights of gigs for them.  

“Monday and Tuesday are my only off-days from the live gigs and I spend these two days in the studio writing and recording music,” says Gogo with a laugh. “The rest of the week, I am performing with the band at different venues in the city.”

Repertoire

Wednesday nights finds Gogosimo playing on the first floor Lounge of Villa Rosa Kempinski, Friday night at Chomazone on Mombasa Road and Saturday night at Klub House, Parklands.

The band is back at Kempinski on Sunday for Brunch at the hotel’s Lucca Restaurant.

“Our repertoire is diverse at all these venues, from Motown soul, salsa to rhumba and, of course, we play songs from the Gogosimo albums and my own solo projects,” explains Gogo.

The musicians, who play the different instruments in the band, are also vocalists so the group leader can step out of stage for a quick interview during the “Afro-Smoothie” night at the Intercontinental as the rest continue with the performance.

“You know, even the drummer and the saxophonist can sing so we just alternate on vocals during any performance,” says Gogo who says his band would never ever think of using playback. “We are strictly a live outfit.”

Marcus James Jozee, to use his official name, is a multi-talented musician who learnt the saxophone from his father Ndongo Amani, a member of the legendary Congolese band Les Noirs that settled in Kenya in the 1970s.

Drums and piano

He later picked up the drums and piano before starting his professional career in Mombasa with a brief spell in the Safari Sound Band along with his wife, the singer Susan Wanjiru in the late 90s. They both quit and relocated to Nairobi to form Gogosimo in 2002.

After three albums together with the band, Gogo released his debut solo album “Finding the Keys” in April 2014 which contains a strong coastal flavour with jazzy cover versions of songs originally recorded by some of his influences like Fundi Konde, Nyota Ndogo, Joseph Ngala and his former band Safari Sound Band.

The album also had collaborations with Mercy Myra and Gogo’s long time friend and fellow saxophonist Isaiah Katumwa from Uganda.

Last April, Katumwa was the guest performer at the launch of “Finding the keys” and the two musicians will reunite again on stage at Kampala’s Serena Hotel on May 8 at an international show featuring South African jazz veteran Hugh Masekela.

The much-anticipated concert is in celebration of Katumwa’s 20 years in the music business.

Collaborations

Gogo himself is also looking forward to the release of his second solo album “A Step ahead” in June this year having completed another 14 new songs, the same number as that on his first album a year ago.

He describes the new album as an exciting venture because unlike his debut release that contained many guest vocalists, he sings alone on most of the tracks.

Inevitably, there are a few collaborations, including one with Katumwa, and another with Ugandan singer Rachel Namubiru. Gogosimo saxophonist Noah Fukwe also provides vocals on the album.

Gogo is very eager for fans to check out the first single “Paukwa”, a driving funky beat with slick vocals and a super sax that has been uploaded on You Tube.

“I have livened up the tempo just a little to create a semi-club sound so that the music can be played at a party but still retains a bit of the chilled out feel that allows you to tap your feet to the sound at home or in the car.”

Inspired

He says that he was inspired to tweak the sound by listening to the critically-acclaimed 2005 recording of one of his idols, Stevie Wonder, “A Time to Love”.

Again, unlike his first solo album that had cover versions of songs by the people who have inspired his career, it’s almost as if he has now been freed up to deliver an original sound that is entirely his own.

There has been plenty to learn for Gogo after performing at high profile shows such as the Richard Bona concert at the 2014 Safaricom Jazz Festival, the Erykah Badu concert in 2012 and recording with Congolese rhumba legend Papa Wemba on the 2008 Gogosimo album.

When we ask him how he distinguishes between his solo projects and the band, Gogo is emphatic:

“Gogosimo is my band and I am the music director and the guys from the band also play for me as James Gogo so we are quite clear about the different roles.”