Legendary American musician, Vasti Jackson believes that Rwandan music possesses a lot of potential to flourish, to the extent that it can attract the attention of people from all over the world. The multi-Grammy nominated singer, who is on a month-long visit in Rwanda to share his expertise, has, for the past two weeks, been meeting various Rwandan professionals, musicians, and producers to learn and explore the potential, and attraction of music in Rwanda and how it can be pushed to reach new horizons. From a series of interactions with music industry players, Vasti was impressed by the potential that Rwandan music possesses while highlighting its similarities with the blues music that he has for long performed. “African music is rich, it is the origin of the blues and all other popular music you hear today. The Rwandan sound is not far from the Mississippi Sound,” the singer said. He visited Rwanda School of Creative Art and Music (famously known as Nyundo Music School) on Friday, December 4, where he met a number of music students. He hailed the ‘amazing’ talents that the students have at their disposal, but urged them to do it professionally to serve the purpose. “The music brain has two sides. The creative side, and the business side. As artistes, you need to make sure these two sides of the brain complement each other. Art and commerce are both needed for a successful career,” he said. “The future of the music scene in Rwanda is full of potential. Being in Rwanda is a great honor. I am here to serve, enhance, guide, and strategically expose Rwandan talents to international markets,” he added. One big impression that the musician had was exploring “Inanga”, one of Rwanda’s traditional musical instruments, which took him back to the musical days of his grandparents. “It reminds me of the sound my grandfather and grandmother played on the guitar”, he recalls. Vasti Jackson has also met professionals in the music scene in Rwanda, such as Roman Judo Kanobana, who was the brains behind a number of successful music festivals and concerts in Rwanda including Davido and Stromae’s live concerts in Kigali. The blues legend is also an instrumentalist, vocalist, recording artist, producer, arranger, actor, and lecturer. He has arranged, performed, and produced music for three Grammy-nominated projects with one Grammy win. As an actor, his works range from HBO, Starz Network, Lifetime Network, and with iconic directors and actors, like Morgan Freeman, Martin Scorsese, and international musicals, such as “Simply The Best”, the “Tina Turner story”, which he co-stars as Ike Turner. During his stay for a few more weeks, the Blues legend will be lecturing, collaborating, producing songs with local artists, as well as doing community work.
