Nairobi’s bustling Kenyatta market is an unlikely place to hear classical music. Yet playing in front of stalls where butchers roast meat and hairdressers compete over heads to braid was a very surprising busker: the distinguished cellist Yo-Yo Ma. Playing Over the Rainbow alongside Kenyan percussionist Kasiva Mutua, he matches his cello to her beats in a truly eclectic mix. Ma’s pop-up market performance typifies much of his visit in the city over the last week – a daring, headfirst dive into the realities of Kenyan artists. He bashfully makes occasional use of Sheng – a Nairobi slang that plays on words from English and Swahili, and he arrives at the market in a matatu – the music-blaring, graffiti-covered buses that millions in the city rely on to get around. Nairobi is Ma’s last stop of his Bach Project – a five-year, six-continent global tour. With its rising cultural and artistic scene, organisers say the city was near the top of the cellist’s list.
SOURCE: THE GUARDIAN