Kenyans in US to celebrate Thanksgiving

Super MEJA Band is the only group from Kenya that will be performing live with a full stage show. [Photo: Chris Wamalwa]

Chris Wamalwa

USA: Thousands of Kenyans living in the US are set to join millions of US nationals in celebrating Thanksgiving Day on Thursday.

Thanks giving, an occasion that is arguably one of the most celebrated periods in the nation’s calendar is almost a whole week’s affair and can only be equated to Kenya’s Easter weekend.

In the US, it’s taken more seriously than even Christmas. It’s the only day in the country when everything practically comes to a stop - most planes are grounded, shops and offices closed.

Just like during Easter in Kenya, thanksgiving in the US is basically a family affair. It’s a week in which families usually spread around the width and breadth of the country come together to share a meal. It is preceded by pomp and fanfare when clubs make a killing as people troop to entertainment centers to ease off.

Most entertainment centres among the Kenyan community will be open and have lined up shows. On the East Coast, the headliner seem to be Super MEJA Band, an eight member strong team led by Edwin Opiyo Jarumba and Benta Achieng Nyakoyugi making their debut in the States for the first time this Fall.

“They arrived on November 15, 2012 and will be entertaining the Kenyan Diaspora in the United States for a period of about two months before they return to Nairobi. Their first show will be in Newark, New Jersey black Friday, the day after thanksgiving November 23, 2012. They will be operating from Allentown, Pennsylvania and will be visiting other States”. Said Lloyd Osunga of Umoja Entertainment.

Mr Osunga said their current schedule includes visits to entertain the Kenyan Diaspora in Massachusetts, Maryland, New Jersey, Washington, DC, North Carolina, Georgia, and Texas.

Live performance

 According to Osunga, the Super MEJA Band is raising a lot of interest because it is the only group from Kenya that will be performing live with a full stage show.

 “Most entertainers from Kenya use playbacks during their shows. These guys believe in giving their audience the real feeling of a whole live band”. He said.

Super Meja Band was started in 2003 by Wickliff Mulumbu Jamarachi, Elisha Tiach wuod Asembo, Eddy Opiyo Jarumba, the late Florence Akinyi (popularly known as okinyo flory) and later joined by Benta Achieng Ageng’a (Nyakoyugi). The name MEJA is actually coined from the initials of the popular (stage) names of its founders, Mulumbu, Elisha, Jarumba, Akinyi Flory (the late). The band has seen some rearrangements over the years as some of the members have moved on to work with other bands while others join it, but its core and sound has remained. Its core music is Rumba/Benga the popular western Kenya music style but they also mix it with lingala and soukus styles which is very popular in most major urban areas in Kenya. The band plays in most of the popular joints in Nairobi such as Zanze at the Kenya Cinema, Kataro Paris in Dohnholm, Egesa Villa in Umoja. It is also part of the Banamela group, a collection of many bands and artists both Kenyan and Zaireans, which is stationed at The Meladen Club in Upper Hill Nairobi.

The band is currently visiting the United States for the first time with its full eight-member team.