Another Sam: Another lesson on matters of the heart

Playing as a unit of a whole can sometimes be quite frustrating. Very rarely do you find a band that has a permanent set of instrumentalists here, because most are band infidels. In the new band I play for, I literally have a different lead guitarist every session, each with completely different styles of playing. This means that each time we do a song, it sounds like a completely different song. A song that was composed and intended to be a jazz piece will start off as jazz, become funk, change to dubstep, become techno and reggae before it finally ends up as an unknown genre. Coming from the strict classical music structure, I cannot help but get annoyed. Also, this makes it really difficult to have chemistry as a band, as well as to be able to have a defined sound. On the bright side about playing with a cycle of musicians, is that you meet so many different people from different backgrounds with different perspectives, thus broadening your mental scope.

My top 4 Kenyan bassists, in no particular order, are named Haron, Sam, Ricky and another Sam. Another Sam happens to be one of the musicians passed along in the band cycle, so I have recently had the pleasure of getting to know him musically. He also happens to be a good friend and multi-instrumentalists. I have known another Sam since last year, and the reason he made it to my top 4 list, aside from being a good musician, is that he has something very important that most musicians seem to lack these days. He has genuine passion.

There are two types of musicians: those who know music, and those who are the music. Those who know music may be conversant with the most difficult of techniques, but their music never matures beyond a certain point, and may even die a premature death. Those who are the music, live the music. As long as they are alive and have a heartbeat, so does the music. Another Sam is the latter.

This encounter reminded me of the true beauty of music, and that is self expression. Another Sam's advice to me, on being a better bassist, was, " you are the heartbeat of the music. You don't have to be complex, just as long as you keep the groove and jibambe (enjoy)". Done and done. I can already feel the difference in my playing!