Kambanane Jamz by Pete Larson

I lived in Nairobi, Kenya from 2014-2017. About a year in, I found out about an odd eight string lyre like instrument from Western Kenya, from what's called "Luoland" or the place where the Luo people live (of course.) Intrigued, I arranged to get one through a friend who had connections in the music scene there. I remember getting the instrument and having no idea what to do with it.

Guitars are easy. You just beat them until they give you a sound. Lyres are weird. They require you to coordinate left and right, and you have to caress sound out of them rather than just hit them until they do what you want.

A bit later, I saw my now good friend Daniel Onyango playing the nyatiti at a local pub. I approached him, introduced myself and asked if he might teach me how to play a bit.

Kenyans never take white people seriously when they approach them about music. And my being old and crusty made it all that more difficult. I have no idea what Daniel thought, but it took a few emails until he finally introduced me to old man Nyagweno, who taught me how to play the Nyatiti. At one point, I was visiting him every day in the Baba Dogo area of Nairobi.

I was horrible at first, but then, over time, became less horrible. During a particularly awful time of my life, the instrument was my only saving grace. I would play the nyatiti just about everywhere. At one point, I kept one in my car so that I could play it while in traffic. People walking by would always laugh and say I was crazy.

But I kept playing. All in all, I probably put more effort into the nyatiti than I had ever put into the guitar.... so, in time, I became less awful... but the playing became more rewarding. Even now, when I'm not feeling well, I go over nyatiti riffs in my head where they repeat in these reassuring cycles.

So, this record is a document of how I learned the nyatiti. The old man taught me songs, and that was great, but it was nothing like jamming out on the nyatiti on my too-small-for-me couch in my apartment at Dagoretti Corner, staring at the ceiling and tuning out the cacophony of the disco next door, the matatu stage in front, or the people laughing and screaming at the bars behind me.

These "songs" aren't so much songs as aural explorations on an unfamiliar instrument. People familiar with the instrument and the music will likely be disappointed and that's ok. This isn't a record of the fantastic nyatiti music of Siaya County, Kenya. There's no singing on this record (outside of one track with Nyagweno). These are the sounds of a troubled guy on his couch trying to tune the din of life out and get a little peace and comfort, and that's ok.

However, I am thankful to all of the people who brought me on this journey to an unfamiliar instrument and a less familiar music. My time with the Kenyan music scene was one of the most rewarding of my life. I am very happy to be connected with such a diverse group of extremely talented and insightful people. Most of all, though, I am eternally thankful to my teacher, the great Oduor Vitalis Nyagweno.

"Dagoretti" is the confluence of three large pathways in Nairobi connecting all of Kenya together. It is also the Swahilified pronounciation of "The great." We like to think that we put out great records that connect distant places together.

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