Eric Wainaina
Latin Jazz - World Fusion
Eric Wainaina (lead vocals); Caroline Lynn Atemi Oyungu (vocals); Rachel Umi (backing vocals); Isaac Omamo (guitar); Emmanual Mkubwa (keyboards); Stanley Mutavi (bass); Henry Saha (drums); Julius Wakake (percussion).
Sat 15 July 2006 23:15 - 00:30 Murray
[trans_artistinfo_about]
One of the most popular singer-songwriters of Kenya is the Nairobi born Eric Wainaina. In his music Kenyan benga rhythms come together with Eastern African guitar variants and western harmonies. Both local heroes as superstars such as Paul Simon and Youssou N’dour musically inspired Wainaina. He studied at the Berklee College of Music in Boston and he began his career in the a-cappella group 5 Alive that included gospel in its repertoire. In 1998 he scored a hit with the song Kenya Only, which became a national song of mourning after the bomb outrage of the American embassy in Nairobi in 1998. Meanwhile he has built such a name for himself, that he also performs outside of Kenya. Recently he was declared Best Eastern African Artist of the Year, amongst others thanks to his successful album Sawa Sawa from 2001.
