Donna Collins
Whilst week-end revellers in the capital were celebrating St Patrick’s Day, all dressed up in green and singing “when Irish eyes are smiling”, there was a jam session of a different kind going on across town, in celebration of music.
The occasion was also a first of many more sessions of its kind held at the Muso’s Cafe in the quaint courtyard of the old Breweries Complex, which brought together a collaboration of various band members for a full jam session on Saturday morning. Initiated by six independent artists, who wanted to create a platform to stimulate the music scene, the ‘Muso’s Cafe performance was one of a kind. The laid-back venue provides just the right spot for a gathering of diverse artists, who want to share their passion of making and exploring music across the different genres.
Izzy Martin, a lead guitarist/vocalist for the Walvis Bay group, Wakambi, visit to the capital in search of a solid music experience, paid off with this debut event. Better known for his smooth Motown pitch, and versatile playing on guitar, harmonica and keyboard, Izzy was in his groove with some of the finest musicians in the country. Five other amazing artists, who have honed their music skills through several bands over the years, as well as career boffins and music tutors, joined him. This included seasoned guitarist/studio producer, Christian Poloni, who plays in the duo Blend, as well as Heavy Metal vocalist and bassist, Stephen Slabber; fly electric guitarist Juan Viljoen; cool bass player Token Udeni and Josh “Mr Beat” Wenk on drums, who also tutors drumming.
Josh who also co-runs Muso’s Cafe says Izzy wanted to create a monthly platform for different types of musicians to collaborate at regular live sessions and encourage young talent sparked the idea. “We had a fantastic first gig, and it is not every day you get a medley of such experienced musicians making music together,” says Josh. “Saturday was not about big vocals, big sound, big stage and big performance, but rather an intimate slowed down, cooled out collaboration of classic rock numbers, with a jazz and blues fusion that connected us artists who represented different genres and the instruments we were playing,” he adds.
For Stephen the group of musicians have known and supported each other’s music careers for many years, and they are like family. He says they looked at the opportunity for regular jam sessions as a movement to encourage all Namibian musicians to start working together. He has been a musician since he was six years old, and has fronted some of the biggest bands in the country namely “Out of Nowhere” and the new up and coming rock band “Accidental Hero”. Currently he, Token and Juan are band members of the powerhouse “As Night Fades” band, which has been active for the past three years, and soon to take part in the Botswana Metal Fest.