Musicians I would like to watch before I die

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WHAT’S UP!

On Sunday, Kenny G, one of the best-selling artists of all time, had a one-night show at the Mestil Hotel in Kampala. Whether you think he is a jazz artiste or not, he is very good at what he does, playing the saxophone. To many in the audience, it was a chance to watch a Grammy award-winning world beater. How many chances do you get to see a live show by a musician who has sold over 70 million records?

So, it got me thinking: what other musicians would I want to watch at least once in my life? Here is my musicians’ bucket list, in no particular order. Note: they are all still living.

GLADYS KNIGHT

Not in any particular order, but she would be top of any list of mine. Ever since I heard the song Neither One of Us playing out of a friend’s Walkman back in secondary school at Budo, her voice has taken me places no one else has ever done. She has a very unique voice that is easily recognisable, and it invokes a depth of feelings and emotions. It has been described as ‘rich and velvety’, and I can just imagine listening to it live. I would jump on that Midnight Train to Georgia in an instant.

NILE RODGERS & CHIC

Chic was unfortunate to be on the end bit of the disco era, but their body of music in that limited time is enormous. They wrote songs for several award-winning musicians, including Diana Ross, Sister Sledge, Madonna (Like A Virgin, Material Girl), David Bowie, Mick Jagger, Sheena Easton, and a host of others. But they also had a mean live act of their own, and I would love to experience those opening beats of Diana Ross’ I am Coming Out, live.

GEORGE BENSON

What to say of George Benson? He plays a mean guitar, one of the best in the business, actually. He is also a very good singer, and his guitar-vocal interplay is tailor-made for live performances. He can probably go on for the whole night, and we would still be asking for more. And I would be right there.

MILLIE JACKSON

I almost made it to a Millie Jackson concert in Nairobi when I was a teenager, but I was deemed too young. She was probably the first woman I heard using four-letter words, and the guts to do that impressed me immensely. Then I got to love her music, especially her live albums. Just to relive those times on stage would do very well, thank you.

ABBA

Where would I be, sincerely, without ABBA’s music? I have watched ABBA The Movie dozens of times, and I still feel the magic every single time. The Day Before You Came says it all. Life was never the same after I listened to ABBA. Now to watch them live, before they sign out.

ANITA BAKER

Another silky-voiced siren, and I would willingly be enticed onto her island. I still remember my first cassette of her music; I listened to it all day and all night, until my family started complaining. To be allured just one more time, please, is all I ask.

LIONEL RICHIE

Lionel Richie.

He would represent the Commodores, since they cannot get back together. And he had better play many of their old songs, many of which he sang lead vocals on, anyway. If he could do half of the Commodores live album, I would be a very content man.

SIMON AND GARFUNKEL

I am a sucker for harmonies, and few come better than these two, now old men. There are reports that they have finally reconciled after an acrimonious break-up in 1970, even after their best album, Bridge over Troubled Water,s had earned them a Grammy Award. Can they still perform? There are noises about one final reunion, and I want to be there when it happens.

SMOKEY ROBINSON

He represents all that was good and magical about Motown, writing over 4,000 songs both for his group, The Miracles, and other notable Motown stars, including The Temptations, the Four Tops, Marvin Gaye and Mary Wells. He was the first man I heard singing in falsetto, having thought all black Americans sang baritone. But, yes, I want to watch him do his thing, live.

CARLOS SANTANA

For some reason I once thought Santana was a black guy, and that his full name was Santana Abraxas. It turned out Santana was a band formed by Carlos Santana, and Abraxas was the title of their second album, which had such gems as Black Magic Woman, Oye Como Va and Samba Pa Ti. I love their blues-infused songs, like Flor d’Luna (Moonflower) and Europa (Earth’s Cry Heaven’s Smile). To watch Carlos play his guitar live on stage would be really awesome.

TONI BRAXTON

An unlikely choice, you say? This pint-sized dynamo ruled the 1990s and early 2000s, and brought her own kind of sexiness to music. She is rumoured to have caused fights between several NBA players, so I would love to see that sexiness live on stage. She is only 57, and I bet she still got it.

SOMI

This is cheating a bit, because I have watched Somi live. But that was in a small room at the Serena in 2010, she was just starting out on her career as a jazz singer, and the sound was terrible. She is really big time now, and although she has promised to come to Uganda (her mother is a Munyoro, and her late Rwandan father grew up in Mityana and went to Budo), she still has not. Some promoter had better.

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