Prime
German jazz players blend with Ugandans at Serena show
The Favo duo from Germany playing at Serena. PHOTO BY I. KEZAALA
Far away from an ordinary musical show- Thursday night at Serena Hotel was an uplifting experience courtesy of Favo, a jazz duet from Berlin. The duo had Volker on a soprano sax and Falk on a bassclariuet. The music was indeed relaxing, as the duo performed with vigour literally making their instruments talk. They had a good way of coordinating with each other, and often times they were like two naughty kids playing with each other.
And after playing for about an hour, the act faded into a soul uplifting contemporary performance session with local performers from Qwela band and other independent instrumentalists. It was interesting watching folk players; Abraham Sekasi and James Sewakiryanga who played the adungu and a thumb piano, fused with the sophisticated jazz players. They blended and created electrifying rhythms. While they performed Dungu, Volker and Falk listened attentively, then later joined in, blowing passionately from their instruments accompanied by other instrumentalists. In a short while, fans could not resist the strong grooves and melodies which faded into a folk ending.
More fusions were made; a saxophone blowing in, a key board note thrown in, then a leading guitar, shakers and for all this time it was like as if, the artistes weren’t putting much effort in what they were doing. But each moment, beat, note, harmony and the abrupt pauses were imaginatively captivating. The show was wrapped up with Summer Time, which was sung by Qwela’s Tamba. The other players included Michael Ouma, Isaac Zumbe, Sam Bisaso and Bryan Mukonyezi.
