Kampala & Nairobi February/March 2014

On the pilot project we had to make hard choices about where we could go based on budget and practicalities of the driving route. One city we felt we really missed first time round was Kamapala in Uganda. We had heard some stories about amazing singers and musicians in Kampala and so when we got a chance to head back to Nairobi at the end of February 2014, we made a three day detour to Uganda. The stories were right. Andy was invited to give a Voice Master Class at the Kamapala Music School and the singers we found there were fantastic. Look out for more from George Ssemaganda and the rest of the guys in Sauti ya Afrika.

After Kampala we spent a few days in Nairobi. We caught up with our excellent friends at Tribe Hotel (Sham thank you again for everything you do) and our dear friend and new mother Elizabeth Njoroge. We are extremely excited to annouce that we have persuaded Levi Wataka officially to join our team for the 2015 festival. His expertise on the ground and his passion and clarity will be invaluable to this project. We can report that music is thriving at Ghetto Classics in Korogocho Slum, Nairobi. We were very impressed at how far the students have come in the short time since our last visit.

We were also able to spend an afternoon as Elizabeth's guests at the Safaricom Jazz Festival. This huge outdoor event was held at the Ngong racecourse. Proceeds from the day are to go to Ghetto Classics and will hep buy intruments and create an endowment for the project. We were very inspired by the setting and the set-up.