Italian jazz maestro to perform at national park

By Kiundu Waweru 

As the sun rolls to make a day, today, the Ivory Burning Centre, Nairobi National Park will receive a different kind of fire. The air will light up with smooth jazz music, and beauties showcasing high fashion will try to cool the atmosphere.

Italian award winning jazz maestro Enrico Crivellaro and his band will be headlining the unique event going down from 6pm and put together by Tujipambe, an online fashion mercherdise.

“It will be a little unusual for us to play music in a fashion show,” says the Grammy nominated celebrated musician from Italy. “But it will be fascinating to perform, for the first time, in a National Park.”

Indeed. Nairobi National Park is historical in the fact that it’s the only park in the world within a spitting distance of the capital city. And with rising cases of elephant and rhino poaching in Kenya, the event is also a good way to promote the need to conserve our environment and wildlife. Well, according to the organiser, Wanja Knighton, the Jazz, Blues and Fashion in the Wild event, apart from showcasing high fashion and good music will invoke the images of beautiful landscapes and wildlife in the minds of the revellers.

Enrico jetted in the country on Wednesday night with his band of Pietro Taucher who plays Hammond organ, Simone Serafini on the bass, Carmine Bloisi on the drum and will be joined by powerful African American vocalist Brian Templeton from Boston.  It will be an all Jazz and Blues black tie themed event with fashion collection from the predominantly fashion capital in the world.

It will feature men’s collection from chic Italian suits to Capri shorts and wardrobe staples to equestrian collections for the women. Tujipambe prides itself as the ‘home of the curve’ and the models will sure rock the curves at the event. The penultimate showcase will be introduced by a raunchy Rhumba to Ray Charles’ If I Give you My Heart featuring swimwear and lingerie collection.

“It will have 15 showcases with themed characters and costumes to match, from the Dark Siren with her dark feather wings, the Peacock, Temptress with her large red wings to Her Majesty who will bring the whole stage to a standstill.”

Wanja adds that the showcase will culminate with untouchable bridal lingerie with the bride walking down to Malaika “with a twist”. Then Tujipambe dancers will usher in the jazz concert to a ballroom medley. Celebrated as a guitar hero, Enrico told The Standard on Saturday that this is his first visit to Kenya.

Beautiful Kenya

Asking him what the beautiful people of Kenya should expect from him, he smiles and says that he strives to play good music, and good music he will play at the National Park.

“Music starts from your mind,” he says, “then you create it according to your experience.” And Enrico tells us his experience is born of infusing different cultures to his music, creating unique Jazz and Blues. “Though my music is informed by different cultures, including Africa, I don’t term my sound World music.”

And listening to his instrumental offering from his album Mojo Zone and Freewheelin, the sound envelops you into an inner world of pure ecstasy. The two albums are often found in music stores next to Chet Atkins (an American guitarist credited for creating the smoother country music style known as Nashville Sound) and Eric Clapton (an English guitarist and singer-songwriter and an inductee to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame) on the “guitar hero” shelf.  Enrico was born in Padova, Italy and later relocated to Los Angeles and now back to Italy.

He developed his celebrated guitar style in his teens before flying to Connecticut to study with blues masters Ronnie Earl, Duke Robillard and Kenny Neal at the National Guitar Workshop.