Mendelssohn In Nairobi: Diary of a Violinist
Bernadette Muthoni
It had been about three months since I played in an orchestra.
It had been about three months since I played in an orchestra.
In his Odinare Rap Challenge entry, Naivasha based rapper, Ace Bornzilla, makes a declaration, “Toka Vasho finest hip-hop beat assassin nimesign”, a declaration one might
When I was eight years old, I visited my favourite barber Boni’s shop at least once a month. This was the only way I could
I like to think of opening acts at music concerts as starter meals. Typically, starters are consumed in anticipation of something else. They are meant
Since Wangechi stepped into the Kenyan rap scene with her unique flow and energy, and lyrics containing a confessional frankness, she has on occasion been
In the early days of the Covid-19 pandemic, Dr. Pete Larson (of the Dr. Pete Larson and his Cytotoxic Nyatiti Band), an epidemiologist, nyatiti player, and founder of Dagoretti Records, approached the late Grandmaster Masese (real name Dennis Dancan Mosiere) about doing a project on the Obokano music of the Kisii people from the Nyanza region of Western Kenya. Masese was a master of the Obokano, a traditional eight-stringed lyre similar to the Nyatiti of the Luo and the Litungu of the Luhyia. The project, which Masese had started working on by conducting several interviews in his home village in Nyamira, was hampered by a lack of funding, and soon after, his unexpected death.
For a brief moment in 2003, my favourite musician, E-Sir, would come back from the dead. It had been a few months since the news
I “Wahenga walidedi, wakaacha watoi. Watoi hao hawangeitwa wahenga, so wakaitwa wagenge.” — Bon’Eye, 2008 I received the news of Sauti Sol’s impending breakup with
1 My mother’s answer leaves me disappointed when I ask her about the musician whose cassettes we listened to every Saturday morning. I want her
“Aki mum, it wasn’t even that short…” This is how I found myself being my own defense lawyer, on a Sunday afternoon phone call with
