This year’s Safaricom Jazz Festival will be held on Sunday 26th February at the Kasarani Training Grounds. The annual jazz festival is now in its 4th year.
Celebrated Alto-Saxophonist and six-time Grammy Award winner David Sanborn will be the headline artist at the event. Sanborn has released 24 albums in a career spanning over four decades. He is known for his masterful blend of traditional jazz, instrumental pop and soulful R&B. He has played with legendary musicians such as the Rolling Stones, Eric Clapton, Luther Vandross, David Bowie, Paul Simon and Stevie Wonder.
The other acts that will perform at the event haven’t yet been announced. The festival founder and Safaricom CEO, Bob Collymore, has however said that the artist line-up will include musicians from the UK, Europe, Middle East and Africa. A Kenyan act is usually featured in the festival line-up so we can look forward to that as well.
The first edition of the Safaricom International Festival was held in February 2014 and was headlined by New York based Cameroon artist Richard Bona. Jazz artists Aaron Rimbui, Kavutha Mwanzia, Jacob Asiyo, Eddie Grey and Chris Bittok were also part of the ground breaking concert.
Proceeds from the concert go to Ghetto Classics, a non-profit that teaches music to young people from underprivileged backgrounds. They meet for practice every week, undergoing instruction from volunteer tutors via face-to-face and Skype lessons during which they learn how to read and write music, and play different musical instruments. The kids and their families get school fees, rent and and other financial and non-financial assistance. Ghetto Classics has received Ksh. 19 million from the Safaricom Jazz concerts.