Bebe Cool, Ringo to grace Kigali Jazz Junction three-year anniversary
Wednesday, June 20, 2018
South Africau2019s Ringo Madlingozi and Ugandau2019s Bebe Cool (right) will perform. / Internet photo

RG Consults is in preparations for Kigali Jazz Junction’s three-year run celebration, and South Africa’s Ringo Madlingozi and Uganda’s Bebe Cool will be the main acts of the show.

The concert is slated June 29 at the Kigali Conference and Exhibition Village (former Camp Kigali) starting 6pm.

Remmy Lubega, the brains behind the monthly jazz event, said he is pleased to have seen the concept grow so big over the past three years, and so there is reason to celebrate the milestone.

"We are celebrating three years of great live jazz and fusion music. We started with barely 20 people but today, we are proud to be hosting hundreds of people almost every month; we ought to be humbled and we don’t take it for granted. Celebrating this milestone is what we intend to showcase,” he told The New Times.

Lubega said Ringo, 54, and Bebe Cool, 41, were their choice for the anniversary, alongside home band Neptunez and Hope Irakoze.

"We decided on Ringo because we wanted to celebrate the anniversary with a legend. We grew up listening to great songs of his like Sondela and others, and of course East Africa’s finest, Bebe Cool, will bring a young and vibrant feel to the stage,” he explained.

The concert was shifted from the usual venue, Kigali Serena Hotel, to KCEV as the organisers expect a mammoth crowd.

They also want to have a bigger stage for the performers, as each one will have their own band — Bebe Cool’s Gagamel and Ringo alongside the Neptunez Band.

"We need a better stage and a red carpet experience which we can’t pull off at Serena. KCEV gives us all the space we need to be as creative as possible,” Lubega said.

"This is going to be a party for all jazz lovers and all people who like quality performances, and I am sure we will deliver,” he said.

Multi-award winning music legend Ringo is best known for songs like Sondela, Kum na Kum, Nkqo Nkqo and many more,  while Bebe Cool has also made a name for himself with mega hits like Love You Every day, Want It, Up & Whine and his latest Collaboration, I Do with Rwandan duo Charly na Nina, among many others.

Ordinary tickets go for Rwf10,000, Rwf20,000 for VIP and Rwf160,000 for a VIP table of eight. Early bird tickets are available till Friday and go for Rwf, 7000.

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