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neighbour

Posted on May 6, 2007 @ 9:34 am by massimo | Filed under: africa, japan, people, travel, ukiyo-e

nairobi aynaku illustration travel

Behind the walls of his room in Al Mansura Hotel, in bustling downtown Nairobi, a man breathed into a saxophone. My room was next to his and I could hear the musician training himself all day long. At about 7 pm, invariably it was all over. The Al Mansura was a picturesque hang out, where some picturesque people, travellers or long term visitors, used to gather. Not surprisingly after a couple of days, I met my mysterious neighbour. He was a Japanese man who weared a silk kimono and barely spoke some words of English; but he spoke a fluent Swahili and I understood that he was living in Nairobi since long, and played saxophone with some local bands. That wasn’t an easy task for him, since he had to face black people’s astonishing ability in playing  music. All he could do was to exercise him restlessly every day, according to his very Japanese attitude. And wait for the night, when he invariably left the room for his daily concert…
I still play on my turntable, from time to time, a couple of old records by “Banana hills Band” or “The Victoria Kings”, which where sold to me by local street vendors. Great music indeed, really pulsanting, with the rhythmic guitar and the bass playing a leading role: but no saxophone!

Illustration Friday’s topic is: neighbour

This entry was posted on Sunday, May 6th, 2007 and is filed under africa, japan, people, travel, ukiyo-e. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

10 people have left comments

ooh… love this one!

Michelle Lana wrote on May 6, 2007 - 12:28 pm CEST

nice expression and i like the warm glow u gave the sax

michael dailey wrote on May 6, 2007 - 3:20 pm CEST

Nice. I want to get another turntable. :-) My albums are gathering dust.

Willie Baronet wrote on May 6, 2007 - 3:23 pm CEST

a wonderful story and I can hear the music wafting through the air from room to room! i always love your posts and this is a beauty!!!

valgalart wrote on May 6, 2007 - 7:32 pm CEST

Hai un grande talento di creare l’atmosfera intorno ai tuoi personaggi!

Nicole wrote on May 6, 2007 - 8:30 pm CEST

Great illustration, and great story to go with it!

Digital Scott wrote on May 7, 2007 - 3:51 am CEST

ciao Massimo
la fiera è andata - ne sono uscita viva e con qualche strada da seguire - non ti dico nulla fino a che non ho percorso tutta la strada … chissà!!! :-)
ho visto un sacco di cose belle l’anno prossimo ricordati di chiedere il pass!!!
ciao a presto
frà

fra wrote on May 7, 2007 - 10:34 am CEST

i like the music a saxophone creates- this is a beautiful tribute and i like the colors, too esp that of the saxophone.

isay wrote on May 7, 2007 - 6:49 pm CEST

Ohhh… I love his outfit and his hairstyle. Your style is unique, Massimo :)

Pati @-;– wrote on May 8, 2007 - 9:51 pm CEST

cool illo here!

ARVINDH wrote on May 10, 2007 - 8:22 pm CEST

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