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Sax star Katumwa kicks off EA tour

Friday July 22 2016
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Jazz artiste Isaiah Katumwa plays his saxophone at an event in Kampala. PHOTO | MORGAN MBABAZI

Jazz saxophonist Isaiah Katumwa has just released his 11th album, and it is hard to stop listening to it.

This is Me is an 11-track musical feast that he has cooked up on two types of saxophones (alto and soprano).

On July 14 and 15, he was in Nairobi to promote the album, jamming with Daystar University students in their campus auditorium, then later playing at an exclusive event at the Serena Hotel. Judging by crowd responses, I was not alone in enjoying his clear, bright tone, lyrical melodies, and infectious rhythms.

This album is a fusion of three elements that inspire him musically: Being African, the genre of smooth jazz, and his Christian faith. It may as well be called the “This is Love” album because six of its 10 tracks focus on the subject.

Special Feelings — which has a bonus track on the CD — is especially pretty. The sax is made for ballads and is perfect for this charming wedding song whose words must be extremely romantic in Luganda.

The English translations on the CD sleeve are a little stiff. But it is easy to enjoy this mellow track that unreservedly celebrates the love between a man and a woman.

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All Year Summer is another slow jam with a beautiful interplay between the guitar, and baritone and soprano saxophones. This track was on a California-based online radio station’s top 30 Indie smooth jazz playlist earlier this year.

But there are other tracks on this album — such as The Visit — that make you just want to get up and dance, as the university students did. The Serena crowd was a little older, more inhibited, and his gentle appeals for them to move even a toe, were mostly ignored.

Katumwa calls his music afro-smooth jazz, layering melody on saxophone above African rhythms, instruments and language.

The title track is a perfect example, and is about four minutes of soprano sax above a rhythmic flow of African drums. He sings in Luganda and English towards the end, rendering the lead vocals in a pleasant baritone. This is one of the two tracks where he sings on this album.

He’s been playing with a glittering curved silver soprano sax, courtesy of a US-based instrument making company that he endorses. They gave him the first of the newly launched Diamond Series. It is a lovely instrument, and its full glory was especially evident during the evening concert at the Serena.

This is Me mostly recorded and mastered in the US, is a family affair. His wife Sheila provides vocals on several tracks.

As he kicked off the tour, he shared the stage with his 13-year-old son Mitchell. Mitchell, who seems to favour a John Legend vibe, performed a variety of well-received songs, two of which were his own.

Katumwa, a devout Christian chose Daystar University, a Christian institution, so that he could interact with and motivate music students.

Ian Mwangi, a second-year student who is also a self-taught saxophonist, was greatly motivated to cutivate his craft.

The performance was organised by the college’s Language and Performing Arts Department led by Dr Wandia Njoya. The department has hosted other jazz performers in the past, including saxophonist Davey Yarborough and trumpeter Christine Kamau.

Katumwa’s tour to introduce his 11th album is scheduled to take place over several months and includes stops in Rwanda, Tanzania, and the US, before a return to Kenya in August for a public concert.

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