Jazz music was the mood of Friday chilly evening at Hotel Africana as corporates from several walks of life with their families stepped out to usher in a new weekend.
Legendary Afrigo Band lead singer, Moses Matovu arrived at the scene at 1730 hours surprisingly earlier than most guests.
“Jazz appeals to a particular type of people. Radio stations keep saying that instrumental music can’t be understood by most people in Uganda,” saxophonist Ceasor Kajura revealed as he attempted to explain why jazz music does not hit music charts in Uganda.
The event started with some slow soul music presented by an entire orchestra band with classic lighting. Carla Ndege, a daughter to Hilder Ssentamu (the event organizer) said the main theme was around celebrating the value of family which, according to the host is being destroyed in the modern world, especially with both women and men gaining the ability to sustain themselves single-handedly.
Last year’s focus was mental health at workplaces.
Occasional standing ovations and smiles on guests’ faces lit up through the audience.
The official performances started at 8pm with live funky music that put everyone in the right mood to relax as the pianos, flutes, saxophones, and trumpets harmonized quite unbelievably. Performers were Melissa Rosemary from Rainbow International School, Happy Kyazze, Ceasor Kajura and finally Moses Matovu of Afrigo Band.
Notably, though, the most eye-catching performance was that of Happy Kyazze who played a saxophone so romantically that he enticed and walked a female member of the audience to the stage.
During Matovu’s performonace, almost everyone in the audience abandoned their seats to sing or dance along. The Afrigo band maestro didn’t disappoint when he sang his three popular classic songs; Twali Twagalana, Silina Anantwala and Muziki. It was such a thrilling experience according to most revellers.
Pavel Rappo, one of the guests from abroad said, “This is so wonderful, I just want to jump out of my skin after drinking this wine and hearing such impeccable music.”