In 2012, a young artiste started making rounds in Rwanda’s music industry with the help of his small acoustic guitar and strong vocals that caught the attention of many music lovers. After only a year of making of music, the young artiste whom the world came to know as Jules Sentore released his debut album ‘Muraho Neza’ and the rest became history. On Sunday, October 9, the singer, a grandchild of Athanase Sentore, the legendary traditional singer behind hits like 'Dushengurukanye Isheja,' celebrated a decade long career in music and his 33rd birthday with fans during a highly anticipated acoustic concert held at L’espace Kacyiru, Kigali. Backed by his band made up of former members of Kesho Band alongside other top musicians, Jules stepped on the stage at 19: 30 pm playing ‘Niheza’ as an intro of his three hour live session. With Clement and Silva on acoustic guitar, Sam on bass guitar, Patient on Inanga (local instrument) alongside other percussionists, Jules put up a nice performance that made revellers dance to each song he performed. He played live some of his well known tracks including ‘Umpe Akanya’ which he made with Teta Diana, ‘Udatsikira’ which appeared on his first album, among others. Rumaga, a lyricist and poet who was the only artiste on the line up of the show arrived on the stage at exactly 2:30 pm and played some of his poems like 'Kibobo,' 'Umwana Araryoha,' 'Manzi ya Nyanja' and many others. After Rumaga’s performance, Jules returned to the stage to play unreleased tracks on his upcoming album. The singer was not alone on the stage as he was joined by a number of traditional artistes like Yvan Ngenzi and Ruti Joel who helped him sing his unreleased tracks. Jules’ fans and manager surprised him with birthday cakes on the stage as he was performing. The artiste also thanked his uncle Massamba Intore for helping him in the last 10 years he spent in the music industry and also paid tribute to his old friend Buravan (RIP) with whom they recorded different songs. At around 21:30 pm, Massamba took over the mic and mood in the arena changed as he performed some of his old tracks like 'Wirira,' 'Kanjogera' and many others. He thanked Jules for promoting traditional music which many see as a style or genre of old people. “Gakondo will never die,” Massamba said as he concluded his performance, urging more young people to take on the music style.
