Female jazz fusion: German saxophonist and Kenyan trumpeter line up Nairobi concert
German composer and saxophonist Stepahnie Lottermoser who is collaborating with Kenyan trumpeter Christine Kamau during the Women In Music concert on December 6, 2024 in Nairobi.
A Kenyan trumpeter who plays contemporary jazz flavoured with African rhythms like benga and rhumba and a German saxophonist, whose sound is a blend of smooth jazz with soul, funk and pop, will bring their talents together during a concert in Nairobi celebrating women instrumentalists.
Kenyan trumpeter and composer, Christine Kamau and German saxophonist Stephanie Lottermoser, first met at the Jazzahead Trade Fair and Festival in Germany in April 2024. After participating in a panel discussion about musical collaboration, they talked about the possibility of showcasing their music together in Nairobi.
“There are not so many female instrumentalists, and I have been promoting female jazz artistes, connecting them all over the world,” said Lottermoser in an interview with the BDLife from her hometown of Hamburg, Germany this week.
“The industry is still dominated by male artistes and men in decision-making positions, and that can make it challenging for women,” she adds, while reflecting on her recent appearance at the EFG London Jazz Festival.
During the festival, one of the biggest of its kind in Europe, she participated in a discussion among jazz artistes, journalists and festival organisers, on the impact women are making in jazz globally.
Meanwhile, Kamau was a guest on a panel addressing challenges faced by women in the music industry and the opportunities available to them, at the Amplify Uganda Music Expo on November 22 and 23.
Next Friday, both women will play together during the Women in Music concert series at the Azteca Restaurant, Runda Mall, Nairobi, an event supported by the Goethe Institut.
“Christine has a really beautiful approach to music, her style of playing the trumpet is very refreshing and I am looking forward to the collaboration with her,” says Lottermoser. “The magic of jazz is that it is able to take in so many influences. Your musical traditions are so much richer than what we have here in Germany and I am so happy at this chance to listen and learn from the diverse rhythms there in Kenya.
The spirit of collaboration guides Lottermoser on her tours around the world and she recalls her experience performing with local groups during her a trip to Ghana and Ivory Coast last year.
“Everywhere I go, I get together with musicians, we do some of my music and some of theirs. I also do workshops at the conservatories and meet young musicians, especially young women who want to have a music career and we exchange ideas.”
Ahead of the concert, she will conduct a masterclass at the Kenya Conservatoire of Music on December 3. “When I was in Accra over 30 saxophone players turned up for an open master class that I had, and it was really incredible and we had so much fun and so I am looking forward to what Nairobi has to offer.”
Both artistes have selected songs from their repertoire for the concert setlist, which they have been rehearsing separately, and they will then get together next week along with the band, for a few days of rehearsals before the concert on Friday, December 6.
“We are already discussing the possibility of going to the studio to record one song together. I am sure we will figure out something beautiful,” reveals Lottermoser.
Born in a small town south of Munich city, Lottermoser started singing in the children’s choir before taking up flute and piano lessons. “I attended a school that had a very good band and one day one guy was playing a jazz classic on his saxophone and I heard that and I immediately wanted to do that too,” she recalls. “I loved the sound of the saxophone so much that I wanted to play the instrument and that style of music.” Her parents bought her a saxophone and enrolled her on classes to learn the instrument.
After her first degree in anthropology, she studied at the University of Music and Theatre Hamburg and later received a Bavarian Arts Promotion Award to study at the Cite Internationale des Arts in Paris, France. Lottermoser has six solo albums to date, and she will be performing songs from her latest release Independence (2023) and its predecessor Hamburg (2021).
“Besides playing at the London Jazz Festival and some new venues in Germany, coming to Kenya next week will really top what has been a very good 2024 in which my music has reached audiences that had not heard me before,” she says.
Her final performance in Nairobi will be at the German Embassy on December 8. “I was told the Ambassador over there in Nairobi is a passionate piano player and I am looking forward to jamming with him.”
“It is wonderful to collaborate with one of the top female jazz acts in Germany today. We hope that this live music partnership will strengthen the cultural dialogue and exchange between Kenya and Germany,” concludes Kamau.
