Saxophonist started his music career at the age of 8 when he learned to play the piano. He played with Uganda’s leading bands Qwela and Code 9 until 2012 when he decided to go solo.
For 28-year-old saxophonist Brian Mugenyi, 2016 promises to bring good tidings. He is set to release his second album titled Dawn mid this year. The album features a variety of styles ranging from the 80s funk and soul, to the latest electronic dance music and neo-soul.
Dawn has 15 tracks including Set Apart, Gold Medal, Dawn, Stop Playing and Kamungolo.
Mugenyi started playing the piano at the age of eight. For five years in tertiary education he studied music at the Africa Institute of Music in Kampala, where he trained through a series of music-related course units majoring in classical piano and minoring in saxophone.
He later enrolled at the Hanguk Christian Music Conservatory in South Korea where he trained intensively in the saxophone and piano for three months under the instruction of Maria Park Kim, who holds a PhD in music.
“I had always wanted to be a performer; and for me the sax stands out as the perfect instrument. In my opinion, it is the closest sound to the human voice and can do a lot more than the voice can and is a very showy instrument due to its elegant look. It can also be played anytime, anywhere and is not very bulky,” Mugenyi told The EastAfrican.
Although Mugenyi admits that many people still view jazz as music for corporate events or a “white man’s passtime,” he believes that that perception is slowly changing as more people appreciate the genre.
“The same white man still enjoys music from Sauti Sol or Davido or Chameleon. Much as jazz cannot be said to be a mainstream genre today, it is widely enjoyed in the region and I believe people in East Africa appreciate it just the way they appreciate other genres. ”
“I believe that as musicians we have an obligation to keep the genre alive by making it relevant to the lifestyle, economic and technological systems of the day, so that even the younger generation can identify with it without feeling like it’s a thing of the past or it belongs to a certain group of people,” he adds.
Mugenyi played with Uganda’s leading bands, Qwela and Code 9, until 2012, when he decided to go solo.
“In 2012 I got to a point where I felt I needed more and not just in terms of money, but also growth as a brand. I wanted the world to hear and see what I had to share of my own creations. This prompted me to go solo and I have been able to travel to various countries and perform as an individual. It hasn’t been easy, but it is a road worth taking and is a lot of fun,” he says.
He has performed in Uganda, Kenya, Zanzibar and Zambia, and played with artistes such as Richard Bona, Phil Denny (during Jazz Under the Stars, 2013), a jam session at Red Monkey Jambiani with Blitz Ambassador (2015), Juliana Kanyomozi, Damian Soul, Bebe Cool and Zimbabwe’s Alexio Kawara, among others. He shared the stage with the great Salif Keita at the 2015 Jahazi Literary and Jazz Festival in Zanzibar.
Mugenyi released his first album tilted Take Time in 2013. It is a collection of gospel tunes redone in various relaxing styles with Baraka and Take Time as the fans’ favourites.
“The sax is one of the few instruments that if played skilfully can evoke a range of human emotions. That I know because I have been evoked to sadness, excitement and jealously by it many times,” the accomplished saxophonist and singer-songwriter added. He plays both the soprano and alto saxophone.
Mugenyi says that the kind of music he plays ranges between the genres of Afro-fusion, pop, soul and R&B with elements of jazz.
Besides the sax, piano and bass guitar, he also plays Ugandan traditional instruments like the amadinda, Buganda traditional drum set and the bass adungu. He sings in baritone.
