By Adedayo Odulaja
With the maiden edition of his jazz music explosion held in 2009 very successful and that of 2010 even better, popular saxophonist and one of Nigeria’s finest in the area of jazz music, Mike Aremu is set to make a bigger mark with this year’s edition.
Aptly fitted with the name, Sax Appeal, this year’s edition, to be held on Sunday, July 3 in Lagos, this will be the third in the series of what is gradually becoming an event of international proportion. To underscore this point is not difficult especially leaning that Sax Appeal 3 will feature multiple award-winning jazz legend, Kenny G, all the way from the United States of America.
The decision to bring Kenny G down to Nigeria, considered by many in the music circles as the impossible, according to the team of organisers of the event, is in line with Mike Aremu’s simple and clear vision of further raising the standard of music in the country by constantly bringing quality live music with multi talented artistes from home and abroad.
The event, already creating a lot of buzz in and outside the country, is put together by Mike Aremu in conjunction with Classic 93.7 FM, a radio station which plays classic tunes of legends as well as songs of years past.
At a press conference held in Lagos on Tuesday, June 21 at the new and fabulous Radisson Blu Hotel, Victoria Island in Lagos, Mike Aremu relayed the events that played out in the objective of planning Sax Appeal 3 which is being eagerly awaited. According to him, the planning for Sax Appeal 3 started just about a day or two after the second edition was held and one of the major factors that inspired such spirited efforts being put in is as a result of a promise he had made at the edition which held at MUSON Centre, Lagos.
And the reason he made such a promise is down to one fact: most of his peers and himself grew up listening to Kenny G as a dominant name among other jazz artistes and he simply realised that without Kenny G being involved, any kind of Sax Appeal he says he is doing is not up to scratch yet. And the manner with which Mike went all out to get Kenny G on board was incredible; it led many of the friends and team members around him to label him as stubborn but in the end, he braved all the odds and achieved his aim.
It is not for nothing that Kenny G, born Kenneth Bruce Gorelick in 1956, is so renowned and popular in the music world. This is down to the heights he has attained while doing what he knows how to do best, making his name as a foremost musician and adult contemporary and smooth jazz saxophonist. It was in his fourth album titled Duotones he achieved breakthrough success back in 1986. Today, Kenny G is yet the biggest-selling instrumental musician of the modern era with global sales exceeding 75 million albums in his career.
Born into a Jewish family in Seattle, Washington, Kenny G came into contact with a saxophone when he heard someone performing with one on The Ed Sullivan Show and started playing the saxophone in 1966 when he just was 10 years old.
He has since released many solo albums and collaborated with various artists including Andrea Bocelli, Whitney Houston, Peabo Bryson, Toni Braxton, DJ Jazzy Jeff & The Fresh Prince, Natalie Cole, Steve Miller (which was the only time he appeared on a rock and roll album), Dudley Moore, Michael Bolton, Celine Dion and Aretha Franklin. He earned a place in the Guinness Book of World Records for playing the longest note ever recorded on a saxophone in 1997, using circular breathing. Kenny G held an E-flat for 45 minutes and 47 seconds at J&R Music World in New York City.
With the incredibly talented American on Sax Appeal, that is as big as it gets and the show promises to be a show-stopping one the king of Smooth Jazz come to town. But of course, Kenny G is not the only one to dazzle lovers of music come July 3, Kunle Ayo, Judith Sephuma, Yolanda Brown and Waje.
Sax Appeal 3 is bigger in terms of artistic content and steadily growing demand from the first edition has led to organizers seeking a larger venue to accommodate more people as the 2011 edition will hold at the prestigious new Expo Centre at Eko Hotel and Suites, Victoria Island, Lagos.
Yolanda Brown is a British jazz urban contemporary saxophonist and composer, who will be making her third appearance, having been part of the first two editions. Nigeria-born South Africa-based ace guitarist, Kunle Ayo, also an award-winning music star, will be making what is his own second appearance. Jazz and Afro pop singer, Judith Sephuma who is also coming from South Africa will also make her second appearance in a star-studded list of performers that include fast rising star, Waje.
In truth, the inclusion of Waje, born Aituaje Iruobe to thi9s exclusive list of performers would surprise many, maybe even lead them into wondering if there are not many others that should be in the Kenny G-headlined concert. Taking time to listen to any song in which Waje, whose stage name is drawn from a kind of motto: “Words aren’t just enough” would reveal her true depth. She is described as “an incredible Nigerian songstress whose vocal range covers three octaves” as well as one of the reasons the Okoye twins, known as P-Square, enjoy much acceptance. The duo’s “Omoge Mi”, “Do Me” and Banky W’s "Thief my Kele" are all down to her impressive delivery and this is not to leave out her impeccably gripping vocals in M.I’s “One Naira.”
Waje is always ready to tell whoever cares to listen that all the levels of her education were done without a cost to her parents due to her singing ability which got late Bishop Benson Idahosa interested in her from childhood. And since she burst on the stage professionally in 2005 while she was still a student of the University of Nigeria, Nsukka, her rise has been steady and unhindered.
Waje took part in the Zain/MTV Africa's Advance Warning competition in 2008, ending up in the top three, after which she released a single, “Somewhere” which got a Hip Hop World Award nomination for Best Vocal Performance (Female) while “Kolo” got her a nomination at the Nigeria Music Video Awards for Best New Video and it remains to be seen how she will unveil her musical prowess on a stage which is not for those who only mime their songs and lip-synch all the way through a performance.
Mike Aremu, who said Sax Appeal started as a vision sometime back and it is meant to get bigger as time goes on. Mainly without any kind of sponsorship for at least the last two editions, the saxophone genius said the situation has not changed much although he acknowledged the support of Lagos State Government and the state’s signage agency, LASAA. Others who are providing some sort of support include The Beat FM, Naija FM, Eko Hotel and Suites, Inspiro Productions, Avis, KFC, Event Secure, BHM GROUP, the Radisson Blu Anchorage Hotel aside Classic FM with which a collaboration on the event is in place.
Other additions to year’s event is the inclusion of the sax appeal weekend package at the Radisson Blu Anchorage Hotel from July 1 to 3 where each evening will have snippets of live jazz from other friends of Mike Aremu performing and guests having a foretaste of what to expect at the mega Sax Appeal 3 to begin by 6pm on July 3.
Although the price of tickets to the event, put at N10,000 for regular and N20,000 for the VIP section, Mike said the dose of fun and excellent music that would be on display is priceless. Even with the corporate tables of N1 million and N500, 000 available, one cannot agree more with the young man who started back in the early 90s and has not looked back on his journey to greatness in music and all that comes with it.
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