The three-time Grammy Award winner will be headlining Kenya’s biggest jazz festival, The Safaricom International Jazz Festival in Nairobi slated for February 21, 2016.
Marsalis, a respected member of the jazz community has worked with music greats including; Miles Davis, Dizzy Gillespie, Herbie Hancock and Sting. The Jazz master has also excelled as a classical musician and performed alongside Chicago, Detroit, Düsseldorf, North Carolina Symphonies and Boston Pops orchestras his resume includes compositions by Copland Debussy, Vaughan Williams among others.
Branford Marsalis, who is not afraid to stretch the bounds of fusion, started Buckshot LeFonque project to create a new sound; merging Classical Jazz with Hip Hop, Pop RnB and Rock influences. He started out as a member of Wynton Marsalis Quintet and later on formed Marsalis Quartet Band.
A revered instrumentalist, Marsalis is expected to give a grand performance at the annual event in the Kenyan capital.
Other great acts lined up for the festival include: Maya Belzitsman & Matan Ephrat, Shabaka Hutchins (London), Jef Neve (Belgium), Kunie Ayo (Nigeria) among others.
2015 event was headlined by Los Angeles-based South African guitarist Jonathan Butler.
The jazz festival was first held in February 2014.