1. D E N I S E G O R D O N
M U S I C A N D A R T S A D V I S O R
T A L A N T A T R U S T
P H O T O : B A N D 1 O F T H E 6 T H N A T I O N A L T R A I N I N G C A M P I N M U S I C
Talanta Trust – Music
Activity Report
September 2013

2. Highlights
 Special Project: Recording of Mariam Akinyi’s
song
 Profiles of Talanta Trust Artists – Afrikana Band
 Talanta Artists write and record patriotic song –
One Nation – One People
 Talant Trust Musicians provide technical
performances to counties and UNICEF regional
offices interested in establishing Talent
Academies

3. Marketing Activities - September
 Marketing activities are on-going. Some calls are leads, most based on
personal knowledge of the industry and players, while some are cold calls on
venue owners. With the choice of variety of musicians, there chances for a
good fit for a venue is good. Offering an audition at no cost to the venue
increases their chances of agreeing to hear the band and the possibility of
booking them.
 The objective is to procure at least 5 contracts for the artists. The collection
of artists currently has 2 contracts under their belt: Sarova Stanley and
Amaica Restaurant It is only with long term contracts that they can plan
their life as individuals as well as groups. The venues visited this month
include:
 The Hemingways Hotel
 Safari Park Hotel
 Windsor Golf and Country Club

4. Activities and Meetings
 Talanta Trust Artist General Meeting - Meetings will occur every month to
discuss upcoming activities and opportunities
 Talanta Trust Artists pens a patriotic song in honor of the Westgate
Tragedy – One Nation – One People
 Embu County Talent Academy Technical Meeting
 Technical Performance for UNICEF Regional Education Cocktail

5. Face Book ‘Likes’ – Why is it important?
 Talanta Trust Artist Fan Page on Face Book:–
 Face Book likes support:
• Brand Exposure
• Cultivates Relation with target market
• Raises visibility in the market
 6th National Youth Training Camp in Music -2013
 New Likes Talking About This Weekly Total Reach
 2 6 -25.0% 93 -33.6%
 Talanta Trust Artists
 New Likes Talking About This Weekly Total Reach
 0 0 -100.0% 4 -94.5%


 Talanta Trust Artists 6th National Youth Training
 June 45 Likes June 75 Likes
 July 91 Likes July 129 Likes
 August 97 Likes August 208 Likes
 September 110 Likes September 238 Likes

6. Auditions
 Safari Park Hotel – Kipawa
Kenya performed for the
Embu County Team who was
developing a plan for county
level Talent Academies.
Kipawa Kenya provided a
technical performance to
demonstrate what talent
investment can produce. It
was additionally an
opportunity to audition for
Safari Park Hotel
management to consider
Kipawa and other Talanta
Artists for their entertainment
needs.
Kipawa Kenya performs at
Safari Park Hotel

7. Windsor Golf and Country
Club
UNICEF Regional
Education Cocktail
 The amalgam of Talant a Trust
artists performed for this UNICEF
meeting that also served as an
opportunity for the venue to
appreciate the possibility. By crowd
reactions, they did a great job. This
was also an opportunity to
demonstrate to the various regional
offices represented, the opportunity
to see what the end result of talent
investment can look like.
 A number of the offices represented
are considering establishing similar
youth empowerment programs such
as the Talent Academies, in which
the Kenya experience serves as a
model.
Auditions/Performance

8. Performances
 Performances continue
to profile the talents of
the Talanta Artists. There
were a number of events
that allowed to profile the
artists to interested
parties as well as serve
as an introduction of the
musicians to venue
owners.
 Stanley Sarova Hotel (Kipawa
Kenya)
 Embu County Team at the Safari
Park Hotel – Kipawa Kenya
 UNICEF Regional Cocktail at
Windsor Hotels – Talanta Trust
Artists
 Amaica Restaurant – Afrikana
Band

9. New Band Creation in Talanta Trust?
 In February, 2013, the Music Advisor requested the Talanta Artists which were
comprised of two large groups (Bomatunes and Kipawa Kenya) to break down into
smaller groups to improve the marketability of smaller groups for smaller venues.
The bands have broken down to 5 bandsets of 4-8 musicians with 3 distinct sounds.
There have already been 4 occasion this year where we have had to take elements of
the different bands to profile the variety and diversity of the genres of Talanta Trust
Music: rhumba, afro-fusio, afro, afro modern, songs in Kikuyu, Luo, Swahili
tradition, western. Up to now this has been done well calling on their professional
collective expertise, but if one looks closely, the cracks show. In this new amalgam,
they need to take time to rehearse if the demand for the ‘all –round’ band increases.
As it is, we are making a presentation of Talanta Artist for Tribe Hotel audition for
next month, to profile the different musical styles of the artists. Given the
importance of this audition, we have decided to rehearse this group for the Tribe
performance. In the meantime, the advisor is keeping eyes open for opportunities
that would include this new group. Already there are some possibilities already
presenting themselves with a television music program, children’s event,
performance at the best live music stage in Nairobi – Treehouse, and festival
participation.
 This phenomenon needs to be discussed with the artists to see the direction to take
with this development.

10. What makes her special?
Recording: Song and
Video
 Mariam was in the 2nd class to graduate from the NYTA. While
there she worked as back vocals during Tusker Project Fame
Season 5. and has served as Peer Trainer for the 5th and 6th
National Training Camp in Music. Additionally she participated
on the Peace Caravan prior to the 2012 presidential elections.
She performs in most of the smaller bands that have been
established and takes on administrative responsibilities
beyond performing. She is dependable, reliable and works
hard at being the best artist that she can be. Talanta Trust
feels that it is important to make an investment in artists who
are serious about their craft. Financial constraints prevent the
Trust from investing in all of them, so it is important to select
those who are serious. It is important to make an investment in
artist’s profiles such as in song recordings and the necessary
videos, in order to enable a significant advancement. During
this period Mariam has been selected for such an investment
with the recording of what is believed to be a hit song entitled
Baraka that she wrote, which was recorded with well known
producer Robert ‘Rkay’ Kamanzi. We are currently in
negotiations with videographer J.Blessing for a Baraka video.
The total estimation for the recording and video is an
estimated 150, 000 KES.
Special Project: Mariam Akinyi
Mariam performing ‘Baraka’ at
Que Pasa Bistro in September
Select here to play video

11. Introducing Talanta Artists
Afrikana Band
Who They Are…
Afro Fused Traditional and
Modern Vibrations
 Afrikana is an acoustic band that
blends beautifully the modern
and traditional musical
experiences of Kenya. Primarily
a string extravaganza lead by the
Nyatiti and Adeudeu instruments
of Nyanza region harmonically
blended with modern rhythm,
bass and lead guitar and
percussions. The vocals marry
beautifully with musical recipe.
Songs are typically traditional as
well as modern with samplings in
Swahili, Luo, Kikuyu, Nandi and
English.

12. Talanta Trust Artist Activity Profile - September
Rehearsal
Space
Band
Equipment
Number
of gigs
Income
generation
Talanta
Commission
Afrikana 3 1 1 15,000 3000
Amaica
Restaurant
BomaTunes - - - - -
Kipawa 4 5 5 113,000 -
Sarova Stanley,
UNICEF Cocktail
at Windsor, Embu
Cty Team@ Safari
Park
Ni Si Si 4 2 2 45,000 -
Wedding and
Equity Foundation
Umukati - - - - -
Wakati - - - - -
Talanta
Individuals
1 1 1 10,000 1000
(paid to PPMC)
Accompanied
Denise Gordon
at Que Pasa
Performance
Totals 11 8 8 183,000 4000
June Total – 137,000 July Total – 152,000 August Total – 100,000

13. Analysis
 September represents a 83% increase over the dismal earnings of the
month of August. Part of the increase is due to better paying gigs. Weekly
gigs pay on average 12,00-20,000 Kes/show. With one-off performances,
the pay can be higher (25,000-60,000Kes/show).
 Additionally the performance fees of individual Talanta Artists outside of
there established bandsets are included as they used PPMC equipment.
 There has been some tension amongst the different bands as to how the
Music Advisor distributes opportunities. There are so many factors that go
into the selection of which Talanta Artists to profile: Profile of
audience/venue (have they seen Talanta Artists before) , concept of the
venue (do they want afro fusion, western music, afro music – which band
can complement the concept) and availability. Sometimes requests come at
the last minute and most times it depends on who is available at that point.
The Music Advisor needs her collaborators to trust her and believe that she
is making selections based on the need and fairness to all participants.

14. ‘They cant fake us, they can’t brake us , they
can’t intimidate us…’… One Nation-One People One Nation – One People
 One Nation – One
People created in
rehearsal at PPMC
 The Westgate Tragedy
of September 21 was an
horrific event that sent
the nation into shock
and unified Kenya at the
same time. Talanta
Artists have written a
patriotic song to mark
the unity.
One Nation – One People –
Patriotic Song written by Talanta Trust Artists
Select here to play video

15. Vicky Akinyi Owuor (20)
tory.akinyi.owuor@gmail.com
+254 710 849 839
Mombasa
 Voice Participant
 Participant in 5th Music
Camp
 Formed a band - Kipawa
that performs at weddings
Church talent shows, fund
raisers
 Written, performed and
recorded 4 songs
 Started guitar lessons
 Performed as backing
vocalist for guest artist
Vivian who performed at
5th National Camp

16. Observations
There are a number of opportunities that exist for
the Talanta Trust Artists. It is a matter of strategic
alliances. There are a number of organizations with
the same objective of Talanta Trust. There is
always strength in numbers and it is very key to
reachout and liaise with these organizations such
as Culture Connect, Penya Academy, Brookhouse
School of Music and a few others.

17. Perspective - October
 Contracts for Amaica Restaurant Signed
 Pitch to Village Market Food Court
 Finalization of individual and band profiles
 Submission of special project proposals from
Talanta Trust Members
 Preparation of Tribe Hotel Audition
 Taking of professional entertainment
photography of Talanta Trust artists.