D E N I S E G O R D O NM U S I C A N D A R T S A D V I S O R

TA L A N TA T R U S TP H O T O : B A N D 1 O F T H E 6 T H N A T I O N A L T R A I N I N G C A M P I N M U S I C

Talanta Trust – MusicActivity Report September 2013

Highlights

Special Project: Recording of Mariam Akinyi’s song

Profiles of Talanta Trust Artists – Afrikana Band

Talanta Artists write and record patriotic song – One Nation – One People

Talant Trust Musicians provide technical performances to counties and UNICEF regional offices interested in establishing Talent Academies

Marketing Activities - September

Marketing activities are on-going. Some calls are leads, most based on personal knowledge of the industry and players, while some are cold calls on venue owners. With the choice of variety of musicians, there chances for a good fit for a venue is good. Offering an audition at no cost to the venue increases their chances of agreeing to hear the band and the possibility of booking them.

The objective is to procure at least 5 contracts for the artists. The collection of artists currently has 2 contracts under their belt: Sarova Stanley and Amaica Restaurant It is only with long term contracts that they can plan their life as individuals as well as groups. The venues visited this month include:

The Hemingways HotelSafari Park Hotel Windsor Golf and Country Club

Activities and Meetings

Talanta Trust Artist General Meeting - Meetings will occur every month to discuss upcoming activities and opportunities

Talanta Trust Artists pens a patriotic song in honor of the Westgate Tragedy – One Nation – One People

Embu County Talent Academy Technical Meeting Technical Performance for UNICEF Regional Education Cocktail

Face Book ‘Likes’ – Why is it important?

Talanta Trust Artist Fan Page on Face Book:– Face Book likes support:

• Brand Exposure• Cultivates Relation with target market• Raises visibility in the market

6th National Youth Training Camp in Music -2013 New Likes Talking About This Weekly Total Reach 2 6 -25.0% 93 -33.6%

Talanta Trust Artists New Likes Talking About This Weekly Total Reach 0 0 -100.0% 4 -94.5%

Talanta Trust Artists 6th National Youth Training

June 45 Likes June 75 Likes July 91 Likes July 129 Likes August 97 Likes August 208 Likes September 110 Likes September 238 Likes

Auditions

Safari Park Hotel – Kipawa Kenya performed for the Embu County Team who was developing a plan for county level Talent Academies. Kipawa Kenya provided a technical performance to demonstrate what talent investment can produce. It was additionally an opportunity to audition for Safari Park Hotel management to consider Kipawa and other Talanta Artists for their entertainment needs.

Kipawa Kenya performs at Safari Park Hotel

Windsor Golf and Country Club

UNICEF Regional Education Cocktail The amalgam of Talant a Trust artists

performed for this UNICEF meeting that also served as an opportunity for the venue to appreciate the possibility. By crowd reactions, they did a great job. This was also an opportunity to demonstrate to the various regional offices represented, the opportunity to see what the end result of talent investment can look like.

A number of the offices represented are considering establishing similar youth empowerment programs such as the Talent Academies, in which the Kenya experience serves as a model.

Auditions/Performance

Performances

Performances continue to profile the talents of the Talanta Artists. There were a number of events that allowed to profile the artists to interested parties as well as serve as an introduction of the musicians to venue owners.

Stanley Sarova Hotel (Kipawa Kenya)

Embu County Team at the Safari Park Hotel – Kipawa Kenya

UNICEF Regional Cocktail at Windsor Hotels – Talanta Trust Artists

Amaica Restaurant – Afrikana Band

New Band Creation in Talanta Trust?

In February, 2013, the Music Advisor requested the Talanta Artists which were comprised of two large groups (Bomatunes and Kipawa Kenya) to break down into smaller groups to improve the marketability of smaller groups for smaller venues. The bands have broken down to 5 bandsets of 4-8 musicians with 3 distinct sounds. There have already been 4 occasion this year where we have had to take elements of the different bands to profile the variety and diversity of the genres of Talanta Trust Music: rhumba, afro-fusio, afro, afro modern, songs in Kikuyu, Luo, Swahili tradition, western. Up to now this has been done well calling on their professional collective expertise, but if one looks closely, the cracks show. In this new amalgam, they need to take time to rehearse if the demand for the ‘all –round’ band increases. As it is, we are making a presentation of Talanta Artist for Tribe Hotel audition for next month, to profile the different musical styles of the artists. Given the importance of this audition, we have decided to rehearse this group for the Tribe performance. In the meantime, the advisor is keeping eyes open for opportunities that would include this new group. Already there are some possibilities already presenting themselves with a television music program, children’s event, performance at the best live music stage in Nairobi – Treehouse, and festival participation.

This phenomenon needs to be discussed with the artists to see the direction to take with this development.

What makes her special?

Recording: Song and Video

Mariam was in the 2nd class to graduate from the NYTA. While there she worked as back vocals during Tusker Project Fame Season 5. and has served as Peer Trainer for the 5th and 6th National Training Camp in Music. Additionally she participated on the Peace Caravan prior to the 2012 presidential elections. She performs in most of the smaller bands that have been established and takes on administrative responsibilities beyond performing. She is dependable, reliable and works hard at being the best artist that she can be. Talanta Trust feels that it is important to make an investment in artists who are serious about their craft. Financial constraints prevent the Trust from investing in all of them, so it is important to select those who are serious. It is important to make an investment in artist’s profiles such as in song recordings and the necessary videos, in order to enable a significant advancement. During this period Mariam has been selected for such an investment with the recording of what is believed to be a hit song entitled Baraka that she wrote, which was recorded with well known producer Robert ‘Rkay’ Kamanzi. We are currently in negotiations with videographer J.Blessing for a Baraka video. The total estimation for the recording and video is an estimated 150, 000 KES.

Special Project: Mariam Akinyi

Mariam performing ‘Baraka’ at Que Pasa Bistro in September

Select here to play video

Introducing Talanta ArtistsAfrikana Band

Who They Are… Afro Fused Traditional and Modern Vibrations

Afrikana is an acoustic band that blends beautifully the modern and traditional musical experiences of Kenya. Primarily a string extravaganza lead by the Nyatiti and Adeudeu instruments of Nyanza region harmonically blended with modern rhythm, bass and lead guitar and percussions. The vocals marry beautifully with musical recipe. Songs are typically traditional as well as modern with samplings in Swahili, Luo, Kikuyu, Nandi and English.

Talanta Trust Artist Activity Profile - September

Rehearsal Space

Band Equipment

Number of gigs

Income generation

Talanta Commission

Afrikana 3 1 1 15,000 3000 Amaica Restaurant

BomaTunes

- - - - -

Kipawa 4 5 5 113,000 - Sarova Stanley, UNICEF Cocktail at Windsor, Embu Cty Team@ Safari Park

Ni Si Si 4 2 2 45,000 - Wedding and Equity Foundation

Umukati - - - - -Wakati - - - - -Talanta Individuals

1 1 1 10,000 1000(paid to PPMC)

Accompanied Denise Gordon at Que Pasa Performance

Totals 11 8 8 183,000 4000June Total – 137,000 July Total – 152,000 August Total – 100,000

Analysis

September represents a 83% increase over the dismal earnings of the month of August. Part of the increase is due to better paying gigs. Weekly gigs pay on average 12,00-20,000 Kes/show. With one-off performances, the pay can be higher (25,000-60,000Kes/show).

Additionally the performance fees of individual Talanta Artists outside of there established bandsets are included as they used PPMC equipment.

There has been some tension amongst the different bands as to how the Music Advisor distributes opportunities. There are so many factors that go into the selection of which Talanta Artists to profile: Profile of audience/venue (have they seen Talanta Artists before) , concept of the venue (do they want afro fusion, western music, afro music – which band can complement the concept) and availability. Sometimes requests come at the last minute and most times it depends on who is available at that point. The Music Advisor needs her collaborators to trust her and believe that she is making selections based on the need and fairness to all participants.

‘They cant fake us, they can’t brake us , they can’t intimidate us…’… One Nation-One People

One Nation – One People

One Nation – One People created in rehearsal at PPMC

The Westgate Tragedy of September 21 was an horrific event that sent the nation into shock and unified Kenya at the same time. Talanta Artists have written a patriotic song to mark the unity.

One Nation – One People – Patriotic Song written by Talanta Trust Artists

Select here to play video

Vicky Akinyi Owuor (20)tory.akinyi.owuor@gmail.com

+254 710 849 839Mombasa

Voice Participant Participant in 5th Music

CampFormed a band - Kipawa

that performs at weddings Church talent shows, fund

raisersWritten, performed and

recorded 4 songsStarted guitar lessonsPerformed as backing

vocalist for guest artist Vivian who performed at 5th National Camp

Observations

There are a number of opportunities that exist for the Talanta Trust Artists. It is a matter of strategic alliances. There are a number of organizations with the same objective of Talanta Trust. There is always strength in numbers and it is very key to reachout and liaise with these organizations such as Culture Connect, Penya Academy, Brookhouse School of Music and a few others.

Perspective - October

Contracts for Amaica Restaurant SignedPitch to Village Market Food CourtFinalization of individual and band

profilesSubmission of special project proposals

from Talanta Trust Members

Preparation of Tribe Hotel AuditionTaking of professional entertainment

photography of Talanta Trust artists.