A fine jazz experience under the stars

Maurice Kirya performing with an orchestra is something you don’t want to miss, and the Orchestra in the City show where he joined the Kampala Jazz Orchestra (KJO) lived up to its billing on Saturday night at the Uganda Golf Club.

It would be honest to say we have not seen a show like this in a while, at least not since COVID-19  put a cramp into the entertainment industry. This was reminiscent of the Jazz Safari shows of old, but with strictly local players.

Rebecca of the Kampala Jazz Orchestra performing at the Orchestra in the City show held at the Uganda Golf Club on Saturday.

This was ‘Episode 2’ of the House of Jazz Experience, with the first held last year at the Latitude 0° hotel in Makindye, which featured the Kenyan musician Bien with the KJO. There were lessons to be learnt, obviously, and the organisers did just that.

The sound was a lot better, and Kirya and the orchestra must have put in many hours rehearsing together to pull off the seamless transition we saw. The stage was probably a tad too low, but the lights guy brought his A-game, something I had not seen for a while in Kampala. Big up to new kids on the block Beautiful Pieces for the event management.

Something must be said about the venue, as it was the first time a show was held on the golf course. It was a nice set-up, from the pre-event Johnnie Walker cocktails to the main venue at the 11th hole.

The strings section of the Kampala Jazz Orchestra performing at the Orchestra in the City show held at the Uganda Golf Club on Saturday.

First up was KJO, ably conducted by Polycarp Kyagulanyi, the founder. It is an unfortunate reality that at shows like these the orchestra is always something of a support act, but this bunch of young people, some of whom are still in school, carried themselves off like seasoned professionals.

Last year their set had 20 songs listed, but only about half were performed. This year everything was tight and controlled, and even though Ken Musoke’s dance moves would have probably had Frank Sinatra turn in his grave, his rendition of My Way was sublime.

KJO vocalists Flex and Rebecca delivered their pieces well, although Rebecca could use some help from a dress stylist. I would have loved her to do Aretha Franklin’s version of Natural Woman, but she did it alright and was well received. Flex was unbelievable with Earth, Wind & Fire’s September. He did Maurice White’s tenor and Phillip Bailey’s falsetto parts impressively.

Spoken-word poet John Mary Mukiza gave brief performances in between songs, and his off-the-cuff lines about the oncoming songs brought much-needed continuity to the show and made possible a smooth transition.

Then it was Kirya’s turn, and he did not disappoint. Although his set was short, only six songs, it was an electrifying performance backed by the orchestra. He did not perform the crowd’s favourite, Boda, but Entebbe and Busabala were just fine. The song Muse, with Kirya on guitar and Gilberto on double bass, was an example of why people go to shows like these.

Probably the only disappointment was that, like the orchestra, he did not diverge much from the original songs. Improvisation, a key element of jazz, was still missing. Oh well, maybe next time.

There have been accusations in the past that people go to ‘exclusive’ shows just to show off, but this crowd clearly came for the music. And it was a fitting cause to help keep Kampala’s last green space.

At the end, the show was quite the experience, and kudos must go to the organisers, House of Jazz. We cannot wait for the next one.