Kanyanam Festival at Meladen

Benga star Jonny Junior is set to headline the Kanyanam festival set for the Meladen Hotel on the hill tonight.

The serenading musician will be performing at the event popularizing his love themed album Nyoremo (Beauty form Gem) that has been ruling the airwaves in the Benga circles.

They will also be belting sounds form their album Triple 5with tracks including Nyoremo, Ja-Nyamwere, Amour Spécial, Mashabiki (Fans) and Sweet Love (Remix). He and the Brilliant Voices (BV) Band will be joining other Benga greats such as Dola Kabarry in this pre Easter music extravaganza in Nairobi city.

Some of the songs he has lined for performance are memorable pieces including Iwacho Awacha, Adundo Mum, Sella, Pamela Atoti , Dabed gi Pesa, Isando Chunya and Maoni ya Raia.

“We are going to give Benga lovers and fans a night to remember with a back to back performances in the most ideal benga rendezvous in town,” said Adipo Sidang, renowned poet and the organiser of the event.

It is here that Ohangla maestro Emma Jalamo performs fortnightly on Fridays drawing hundreds of revellers to the venue for a taste of his mellow-voiced non-stop performances.

Emma’s fusion of Ohangla and Rumba is such a delight and when he hits notes of Sherry as well as Otenga or Illuminati the roof will sure come down.

His music is influenced by the religious sojourn at the Legio Maira sect and has a tinge of litany as well as narration spiked with moral and social teachings. Whilst Johnnie Junior is a native of Ugenya, his counterpart Dola is from Alego and will be on stage to attract the old and new Benga diehards together in a night of Easter.

According to Sidang’ the vent is to offer what he terms “close to the hearts” of Benga fans living in and around Nairobi.

“These individual greats have been on a single performance but now the fans will come and listen to all of them at the same time giving a real cocktail of entertainment spurning years of Benga,” he says.

Also gracing the evening will be the authentic Orutu group – the Kenge Kenge Orutu system with traditional Luo folklore rendered in drums, orutu as well as synchronised vocals.

The group’s thorough mastery of the traditional Luo Orutu fiddle and Nyatiti lyre has spearheaded a new way and approach to how these age old instruments are played, much to the appreciation of contemporary audiences.

The night will be a true test of this group that is not only revered across the East Africa region but also a big success in the World tours including Norway and Sri Lanka (2002), Thailand (2006) Penang and Malaysia (2008).

Their acclaimed tour of Europe (summer 2008) was raptureously received by audiences at Womad Festival and other major European Festivals. Their debut CD which was released by World Music Network on their Introducing label in June 2007 has had a phenomenal reception from audiences throughout the East Africa region.

Yet matters will have to go to the basics as Otieno Aloka, he of the Kanungo fame, takes over the stage with his Ohangla beats.

Kanungo E Teko (The fundamentals are within the waist) will come to pass as revellers put their best foot forward and the waistline get to work in sync with the rhythm of the night.

Elvis Wuod Fibi Junior will take advantage of this big stage to break into the mainstream of the Benga and Ohangla music world when he appears as part of the evening repertoire.

“We will have this beautiful evening also as part of a preparation to host Congolese Lingala musician Ferre Gola at the same venue on April 14,’ discloses Sidang' who is the CEO of Sidang’ stations in charge of both events.

Fere who was in Kenya last year will also be expected to perform at the Mamba Village in Mombasa two days after the Nairobi show according to Sidang’. VIP tickets for the Fere Gola shows will go for Sh 5,000 and tickets are already on sale with demand soaring.