Two weeks, 13 concerts, 22 musicians: The Ghetto Classics All-Stars Tour Kenya

 
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Two weeks, 13 concerts, 22 musicians: The Ghetto Classics All-Stars Tour Kenya

Joanna Priwieziencew, Head of Ghetto Classics Dance, Nairobi, Kenya

02-05-2025

The Ghetto Classics All-Stars before a fundraiser show in Nairobi, at one of the Tribe Trademark hotels sponsoring the project. Photo: Ghetto Classics.

Nairobi, Kenya, November 2024.

A small room bordering East Africa’s largest dump site. Heat scorches through tin roofs as dust rises from the cement floor. Inside, 20 Kenyan musicians focus on Belgian saxophonist Toine Thys: they take in his every gesture and expression, eager not to miss a note. In the drum section, Canadian drummer and pedagogue Karl Jannuska passes his drumsticks to a Kenyan musician and picks up the shakers. Together, they are about to carve the thick air with an Afro jazz beat.

They’re also about to embark on their first national tour.

Building trust takes time.

Two young musicians of the Mombasa GC branch during a master class of Toine Thys, joined by the senior clarinet teacher, at left. Photo: Ghetto Classics.

Since 2021, Toine and Karl have been holding workshops and performing with the senior musicians from the Ghetto Classics program, who, in turn, teach the younger students. Over the years, the two professionals have led the formation of a big band featuring 12 male and six female players, all selected for their musical skills. The time they’ve invested in the project has been crucial not only for improving the band’s musical quality but also for fostering open communication. The student musicians comfortably share ideas about what they want to play and voice their wishes for learning improvisation. In a volatile environment where the focus is usually on addressing immediate emergencies, this initiative to create long-term musical plans is noteworthy and welcome.

“There are the technical details, the music itself, but then there are the vibes we work in, which are a huge factor for them to sound their best. And good vibes can’t happen without trust,” says Toine.

It has to be danceable. 

The Ghetto Classics All-Stars is an Afro-jazz party-like big band. Toine and Karl have composed original music for the group (for example, “Kwetu“) and arranged songs suggested by the musicians. They want the young band to connect with the repertoire by playing tunes they like and listen to.

GC All-Stars playing traditional Luo songs at an orphanage in Mombasa. Photo: Ghetto Classics.

Toine believes playing happens best by ear. At the start of each session, he plays a melody and the musicians play it back, without scores. He wants them to be able to play, by ear, what they hear from one another and what they hear in their heads. The student musicians feel an ease with this approach, as it resonates with Africa’s tradition of oral storytelling. Though they don’t always have perfect pitch, and often lack quality instruments, they have a unique groove and a contagious energy that makes them stand out as performers in the international music arena.

The All-Stars’ music is alive year-round: Ghetto Classics performs these pieces at gigs and official ceremonies and incorporates them in curriculum taught to children living in poverty from Nairobi to Mombasa.

On Tour, December 2024: Ticket or not, we want to play for you!

Because Ghetto Classics serves over 1500 youth in Kenya, many of their concerts are, by necessity, fundraisers for the program. But the heart of this tour lies in the community concerts. Venues range from public schools in Mombasa to the streets of Korogocho and the shores of Lake Victoria, places where the band performs for people who can’t afford a ticket to an upscale concert venue. These performances have the potential to reshape the mission of music-making, because they reach audiences who don’t adhere to the conventional norms of concert-going.

At a concert in an orphanage for handicapped children in Mombasa, Toine realizes the band isn’t connecting with the audience as deeply as it could. “What should we play?” he asks the All-Stars. Without hesitation, they begin performing a traditional Luo song. The familiar phrasing brings smiles to the children’s faces and energizes the room.

When music is the goal, everyone grows. 

All-Stars breaking the ice during a benefit performance in Nairobi. Photo: Ghetto Classics.

“Every night,” Toine reminds the student musicians, “we must put on the best show we’ve ever done.” The band learns to adapt their sound to different settings and audiences. Some nights called for more relaxed performances; others demand high energy.

Under Toine’s charismatic leadership, the band learns to read the room. Their reflexes improve. They live the growth of their music and witness what happens to it—and to them—when it’s played night after night. And they experience what it’s like to tour: traveling together, sharing joys and frustrations, striving to give their best performances.

A community at work.

The sousaphone player is struggling during concerts. Toine asks the lead trombonist to support him. At the next concert, the two musicians lock eyes as they play. Entranced, they transform the sousaphone’s sound: it grows louder, more confident, more articulated. From that moment of peer support, the bass section becomes the orchestra’s strength.

This is the identity of Ghetto Classics: success comes through unity and mutual support. They know that if they are going to make it, they will make it together.

accessibility in music, Afro-jazz, Community Engagement, ensemble learning, February 2025, Ghetto Classics, improvisation, International Collaboration, Joanna Priwieziencew, music and culture, Music Education, oral tradition, peer mentorship, performance touring, social impact, youth development

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