The up-and-coming young Ugandan saxophonist Caesar Jonathan Kajura has had to overcome autism to establish himself as an Afro jazz force to reckon with.

For Kajura, 25, who was born with autism, music became a form of therapy that has enabled him to overcome the disorder and produce two albums; Self Discovery (2011) and City Life! (2014).

“I have noticed that through music my autism is getting less. Right now, I feel I am able to do very many things that I never thought I could do before, like running a band and interacting with other people,” Kajura says.

“He was born mildly autistic but music has cured that condition. Because he was a slow learner, we took him to different international and private schools until we realised he had autism. So we had to find alternatives and in the process discovered he loved singing and dancing,” says his father, Bernard Kajura.

Kajura says he got his musical inspiration from the Ugandan sax player and leader of Afrigo Band Moses Matovu when he attended the group’s gigs in Kampala with his parents.

“I just was fascinated by how he plays the sax and I told my parents that I wanted to play like him. Initially my father was sceptical but mom said, ‘Let’s give him a chance.’ So that is how I started,” Kajura recalls.

As to what he finds interesting about jazz and the sax, Kajura says: “Jazz is a unique way to express myself though music. I find the saxophone an underappreciated transposing instrument. It is an instrument that is rarely played as most musicians are into the piano, trumpet and guitar.”

His parents bought him a learner’s sax because they wanted him to learn the conventional way of playing through reading written music. They took him to learn with both the Uganda Police Band and the Kampala Music School, which were not very helpful.

In 2008, the family moved to Zimbabwe, where his mother Susan Kajura worked for USAid in Harare. While there, his parents got him a private tutor, Tony Vas, a renowned saxophonist, who taught him to play the sax by listening to music. The rest is history.

While in Zimbabwe, he shared the stage with musicians like Bob Nyabinde, Frank Mavhimira, Sam Mtukudzi and the Jazz Invitation Band. He played at the 2011 Harare Film Festival and performed at the two famous jazz venues in Harare, the Mannenberg and the Book Cafe.

The family returned to Uganda in November 2012. He then formed C.J. Blend Band in 2013 where he only played with one vocalist, Julie Ssesanga, using backing tracks. Later in March 2014, he formed Citiblend Band to fulfil his desire to have a full band and play live music.

“My advice to parents with children with autism is that they should identify what their children are good at and support them in achieving success as a form of therapy,” Kajura says.

On September 6, 2014, Kajura released the City Life! album at a charity concert held at his former integrated and special needs school, Hill Preparatory Primary School in Kampala. He raised Ush10 million ($3,450) towards the construction of washrooms at the school.

He also has plans to provide annual bursaries to 10 students from his former school to attend the Nsambya Vocational Centre in Kampala. The centre is funded by private companies.

Kajura says that he realised he was able to help other disadvantaged people in society through charity.

On the eight-track Self Discovery album, Kajura emerges as an artist just stepping out into the sun. It has songs like the Zimbabwean folk song Dai Ndiri Shiri (If I were a bird), Oyanshe (Runyankole folk song), Treadmill and Katitila (Runyoro folk song).

Kajura describes the Self Discovery album as an introduction to his musical journey where he worked with various Zimbabwean musicians.

With City Life! his mastery of the genre comes out. The album has seven songs, including Suzanna, Ggaba Beach, Batembeeyi and Evening Song.

And as to City Life! Kajura says it’s a celebration of his return to Kampala. “Kampala is busier than Harare. When I left for Zimbabwe, I hadn’t learnt much about music. I learnt a lot of music in Zimbabwe; that has made me who I am today.”

On the state of pop music in Uganda, Kajura observes: “If music is given the attention it deserves and people realise how important it is to society, then they will appreciate it as a form of entertainment. I feel music is growing because people are beginning to appreciate live music again.”

Citiblend Band has gigs at the Sheraton Kampala Hotel every Friday evening. The band performed at the 2014 Pearl Rhythm Festival in Kampala.

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Last weekend, Ugandan saxophonist Isaiah Katumwa headlined for Jonathan Butler at the Safaricom International Jazz Festival in Nairobi. The festival was held at the Ngong Race Course.