Jazz warms up at Obligatto

By Kalungi Kabuye Something very decent happened at Club Obbligato last Tuesday night. On that day of the week, Misty Band played live jazz, initially to a sleepy and inattentive crowd more interested in their partners than what was going on stage. But the crowd that night was decent. Decent in that every table in the place was filled, and the waiters had to bring extra chairs from the store and fill the gaps between the tables. But it was mostly decent because of the music the band played, and the enthusiastic response from the crowd who came to listen to it. There has been something of a jinx for live jazz in Kampala over the years. Numerous attempts have not taken off at all. Radio One presenter Wilfred Bangirana had a chance at Viper Room a few years ago, but blew it when he preferred Karaoke to actual jazz. Frank Morrel, who has since relocated to France, tried a gig at Café Wagadugu, but the City Council thought it was too loud for the neighbours, and they only played one stint. The Misty Band itself has been playing at the Kampala Casino every Thursday for quite a while now, but you could hardly hear the music for the sound of chips on the gambling tables. Now the most unlikely place of all, Club Obbligato, might just manage to have the first successful live jazz act in Kampala. And surprise, most of the women that showed up wore evening wear, and there were more jackets and ties than jeans and T-shirts. They are taking this jazz thing more seriously than I thought if they go to such lengths on a Tuesday night. The ‘jazz thing’ is given out by the Misty Band–– Moses Matovu on sax, Frank Mbalire on lead guitar, Godfrey Lubulwa on keyboards/piano, Manicho on bass, and Isaac Zimbe on drums. From around 7:30 p.m., when they start, it is first slow and easy, the kind you hear at a wedding dinner, and to the guests putting away buckets of Club beer, it was mostly background music. But slowly the tempo climbed, and the volume rose as Moses and his colleagues got into their act. They were also ably helped out by a ‘guest artist,’ Ken Musoke reportedly just arrived from Germany. His singing did help carry the night, though. The band plays a cross-section of jazz, but mostly contemporary, including several cover versions. And of course no jazz recital in Uganda would be complete without Satchmo’s Wonderful World, and on Tuesday it brought a standing ovation from the audience. Tuesday night at Obbligato is very different from Friday and Saturday nights, not least of all that more nights are needed for the jazz act. The argument that the band is Misty, so they should hardly be seen, does not hold. If the band wants to be more than a background act, then some lights are needed, if only that the audience can see the depth of emotions that the musicians are going to, and share with them that experience. And the music needs to be more ‘in-your-face,’ to get the crowd involved in what is happening. And I think more lights, albeit subtle, are needed all over the place. Club Obbligato is just too dark. The only lights are the red ones above the bar, over the pool table, the ones leaking from the bathrooms, and the blue light on the back of the stage that barely lights up anything. Lights on the tables, perhaps? Another thing that did not make much sense was when the band took a break at 10:00 p.m. They had been trying the whole night to get the crowd with them, and just when everything is going well, they take 30 minutes off! In fact, this was the time when most of the people left. By the time the band came back at 10:30 to play their last thirty minutes, only the die-hards were left. But on the whole it was a much enjoyable evening, and I see the crowds getting bigger and bigger on Tuesday night at Obbligato. Not only have Ugandans grown up in their appreciation of jazz, but the musicians themselves have also improved. So, see you there next Tuesday night. Ends