Events company Jamhuri Events has been a platform for many artistes to showcase their talents. And as ALFAYO ONYANGO writes, there is still more fire to propel the brand even higher

Olang’o Otieno, 27, has been in the entertainment industry virtually his whole life. As a toddler, his way of bonding with family was through them religiously watching a three-hour musical show.

His grandfather was a skillful guitarist, passing down the trait to his dad, who became a vocational worker for PolyGram NV,  a Dutch entertainment company and major music record label (a subsidiary of Universal Music) in the 1970s and 80s. His elder brother Polycarp Otieno is Sauti Sol’s lead guitarist.

Olang’o’s guitar credentials certainly didn’t exactly register as his brothers’ did, but they took shape in a more benign way that he doesn’t regret.

Memorably, towards the end of his high school studies, his brother’s career was beginning to take off and being the workaholic he is, he had to be involved in this story somehow.

Through circumstances, he volunteered to assist in running the public relations affairs for Sauti Sol.

“In the process, I educated myself about the restrained commercial side of music and learning how to become a professional guitar player.

After high school, I dived into the deep end of music production, playing guitar on various artistes’ albums and backing bigwigs such as Fena Gitu, Muthoni Drummer Queen, Karun and Blinky Bill in their live performances,” he says.

Still, he felt unfulfilled, and his infatuation was in what he saw, rather than what he heard. This led to him securing a much-desired balance of him becoming a visual connoisseur, leaving the acoustics to his bigger kin.

Concert and content production is where his heart was, and so, he advanced his knowledge in the arts. 

He intimates: “By 2015, the start of this divine calling was imminent. With vast research and self-educating myself through acquiring certificate courses from Berklee College of Music on Music Business, Organisational Structures from Stanford University and Music for Social Action at Yale, and the lion was ready to rumble. Jamhuri Events was founded and ready to conquer.”

The execution

Artistes that devoured live performances or those infused acoustic aspects of music over playbacks would find a gracious stage to outlive their expectations.

With enough gas in the rig in terms of human resource, camaraderie inclusive of DJ Kafi and Basthma, all that was needed was some sponsors and they could actualise their ambitious imaginations of a festival that celebrated strictly Kenyan music.

Alliance Francaise played host to the first edition in August 2015 that featured Khaligraph, Shappa, The Watooz Band, Wangechi, Mr Lenny, Wyre, Jua Cali, Le Band, Kansoul, Sage, Kalahi, Didge and surprises such as Majic Mike, and Hopekid.

With expectations and anticipations at an optimum high, hearts beating fast for another edition were granted solace when the next edition was announced for March 2016 at Kariobangi South.

In humble but assured vain, the second Jamhuri Events was assembled, although missing notably was the arsenal of sponsorship that drove the first edition. This gave birth to a sibling event called Jamhuri Sessions.

Future developments

“The Jamhuri Sessions was an intimate platform where artistes would be invited into a studio to perform a medley of their tunes and covers in acoustic form, as Jamhuri Events would rest easy pondering on our next move.

But the common factor the two brands had was at least to break artistes to a wider audience and promote Kenyan music,” he says.

From Ciano Maimba, Serro, H_art the Band, Bensoul, Ken Orwa, Ayrosh, Steph Kapela, Noel Nderitu and Mutoriah to bands such as The Movement and Kaskazini, the Jamhuri Sessions offered a platform for them to grow.

The evolution of Jamhuri Sessions has been seductive as they slowly morphed from moody studio settings to feeding into the public’s demand of wanting more of the same brought to more prime locations hence Mama Rocks, Nyama Mama, Alchemist, J’s Fresh Bar and Kitchen and Sierra.