Pharoah Sanders was an American jazz saxophonist. Known for his overblowing, harmonic, and multiphonic techniques on the saxophone, as well as his use of "sheets of sound", Sanders played a prominent role in the development of free jazz and spiritual jazz through his work as a member of John Coltrane's groups in the mid-1960s, and later through his solo work. He released over thirty albums as a leader and collaborated extensively with vocalist Leon Thomas and pianist Alice Coltrane, among many others. Fellow saxophonist Ornette Coleman once described him as "probably the best tenor player in the world".
Dedan Kimathi Waciuri was the senior military and spiritual leader of the Kikuyu rebels involved in the Mau Mau Uprising. Widely regarded as a revolutionary leader, he led the armed military struggle against the British colonial regime in Kenya in the 1950s until his capture in 1956 and execution in 1957. Kimathi is credited with leading efforts to create formal military structures within the Mau Mau, and convening a war council in 1953. He, along with Baimungi M'marete, Musa Mwariama, General China and Muthoni Kirima, was one of the Field Marshals.
Benga is a genre of Kenyan popular music. It evolved between the late 1940s and late 1960s, in Kenya's capital city of Nairobi. In the 1940s, the African Broadcasting Service in Nairobi aired a steady stream of soukous, South African kwela, Congolese finger-style guitar and various kinds of Cuban dance music that heavily influenced emergence of benga. There were also popular folk songs of Tanzania and Kenya's Luo peoples that formed the base on benga creation.
Charles Lloyd is an American jazz musician. Though he primarily plays tenor saxophone and flute, he has occasionally recorded on other reed instruments, including alto saxophone and the Hungarian tárogató. Lloyd's primary band since 2007 has been a quartet including pianist Jason Moran, acoustic bassist Reuben Rogers, and drummer Eric Harland.
Randolph Edward "Randy" Weston was an American jazz pianist and composer whose creativity was inspired by his ancestral African connection.
Eric Wainaina is a Kenyan singer.
Robert Broom Jr. is an American jazz guitarist, composer, and educator. He was born and raised in New York City, then moved to Chicago, which has been his home town since 1984. He performs and records with The Bobby Broom Trio and his organ group, The Bobby Broom Organi-Sation. While versed in the traditional jazz idioms, Broom draws from a variety of American music forms, such as funk, soul, R&B, and blues.
Tim Rimbui, better known as "Ennovator" is a Kenyan record producer, sound engineer and songwriter who has worked with many prominent Kenyan and East African artists. He is generally thought of as one of the leading music producers in Kenya. With the foresight of being creative, innovative and unique he chose the name Ennovator, which would best describe his sound and approach to music production.
Tinga Stewart is a reggae singer. Stewart won the Festival Song Contest three times, twice as a singer and once as a songwriter.
Lydia Achieng Abura was a Kenyan singer who performed Afro-jazz, Afro-fusion, and gospel music.
Tinga Tinga Tales is a British flash animated children's television series based on African folk tales and aimed at 4 to 6-year-olds. It was commissioned by the BBC for its CBeebies channel. Named after Tingatinga art from Tanzania, Tinga Tinga Tales was produced in Nairobi, Kenya, by Homeboyz Animation, a studio of approximately 50 people. The music is produced by Kenyan singer-songwriter Eric Wainaina. The series comprises 55 episodes and is also available on BBC iPlayer.
Dan Aceda, is a Kenyan musician, entrepreneur, architect, and actor from Nairobi. He has recently been recognised by a Kenyan online magazine as having one of the top 10 most iconic male voices in his home country. In 2014 he was nominated to be a part of the Global Accelerator Conference for entrepreneurs organised by the UN Foundation in New York City. He is also a 2013–2014 Global Health Corps fellow
Alpha Rwirangira is a Rwandan singer/song writer. He sings world music, reggae, soul R&B, and dance music all in English, Swahili and Kinyarwanda.
Tusker Project Fame is an East African reality-singing competition show sponsored by Tusker Lager. The show is similar to American Idol and Project Fame South Africa, musicians compete to win cash and a one-year record deal with Universal Music Group South Africa.
Milege Afrojazz Band, commonly known as Milege, is a world music band from Uganda, made up of young talented musicians from Uganda whose enthusiasm is derived from the diverse cultural music traditions of the different tribes of Uganda into which they fuse contemporary elements to express the likeness of Uganda's people in a more current context. As of 2015 Milege's members are; guitarist Manana F. Birabi, vocalist Joanita Katushabe, lead vocalist Gloria Akugizibwe, bassist Paul Owembabazi and violinist Alison Nadunga as a seasoned member.
Suzan Kerunen is a Ugandan world music singer and songwriter who performs African contemporary music in the local Ugandan language of Alur-Jonam as well as in English, Swahili and other world languages. She is a double Kora Award nominee who competed against Ethiopia's Michaih Behaylu, Astar and Bluz and Kenyan Wahu and a PAM Award winner. She was appointed Uganda National Tourism Ambassador to promote Cultural Tourism. Kerunen has shared stages with Africa's best artists and musicians including Kenya's Suzanna Owíyo, South Africa's Yvonne Chaka Chaka, ASA and other Diaspora artists at the KORA ALL AFRICAN MUSIC AWARDS in Benin, Mama Africa Miriam Makeba, Oliver Mutukudzi, Third World, Kinobe Herbert backed up by Soul Beat Africa at The International Jazz Festival.
Carol Atemi Oyungu is a Kenyan singer, songwriter and entertainer. She first made her mark by being in a girl band Intu until 2007 when they each decided to go solo and work on individual projects. In 2003, she joined Eric Wainaina, as an assistant vocal harmony provider for his band. Oyungu released her first single "Happy" in 2004 and her debut album Hatimaye in 2008, and her second studio album Manzili in 2013.
Koang Deng Kun Kong is a South Sudanese born-Canada based musician, songwriter, dancer and artist professionally known as K-Denk. He was born in Renk.
Likarion Wainaina, is a Russian–born Kenyan filmmaker. He is best known as the director of critically acclaimed shorts Between the Lines and Bait as well as most awarded Kenyan film in history, Supa Modo. Apart from filmmaking, he is also a cinematographer, editor, producer and actor.
