This is how Soul Acoustics Xpressions went down last friday

The name Mumala Maloba may not raise eyebrows until you hear this girl sang. That was no typo, when you scale up the vocal prowess levels, you become a sanger.

Friday Ist March was the day and Ethiopian dass restaurant was the place to be and boy was I stocked about attending Soulful acoustic Xpressions. The show slated for 8.00 pm began a bit late owing to technical hitches, but that was quickly resolved before the show took off on a gasp-inducing tangent. First on stage was Trina Mungai, and my oh my isn’t this gorgeous girl a breath of fresh air. She was followed by Prisca Ojwang’, a very talented vocalist and Sauti academy alumni. Now if you haven’t heard of Sauti Academy, it’s the music school run by Penya Africa, home to greats ala Sauti Sol, Dela, Stan among others.
Two other sauti academy alumni and vocalists extraordinaire Wangui Githu and Dempsey Omwenga both set the stage ablaze, with a musical skill rarely seen in Nairobi. Where are these people hiding?

Last but definately not least, was Mumala herself taking to the stage backed by Trina and Prisca, as well Alano sucre on bass, Kimachia on percussions and Greg on acoustic guitar, a formidable musical trio.
With every song and every breath, she painted a backdrop of heartbreak and painful heart stabs, that had become the soundtrack of her formative years as a teenager falling in love.

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For an hour nonstop, Mumala wowed us with her range and vocal prowess, backed by her equally talented background vocalists. At eleven pm sadly, the show was over or so we thought! Jenny Muigai, former KTN’s The Apprentice contestant and the night’s Emcee decided to throw an awesome spanner in the works. First trick up her sleeve, calling Fena Gitu on stage. Taken aback by the sudden turn of events, Fena reservedly obliged, got on stage, consulted with the make shift band and in a few moments had the club singing along to Africa Massive. This was rehearsed we all whispered!

Clearly Jenny was on a roll, and next up was the amazing June Gachui! Now if you haven’t heard this lady sing, you have been deprived of Kenya’s most hidden treasures. Feigning intoxication, she joked that she was a bit tipsy so wasn’t up to the task. An amazing actress this one but mafans walisema ndio! She decided to consult with the make shift band and what ensued was music streaming down from the heavens.
She delivered a power-packed renditon of En Vogue’s don’t let go before calling Mumala back on stage to back her as she sang Asa’s Bibanke. The eardrum shattering screams that greeted the end of her performance was testimony to the greatness of that moment.

Mumala performed in the March edition of Blankets and wines.