First among equals: The female bass player

Tunu Jumwa is your typical girl next door. When at home, you will probably find her doing chores and helping her mother prepare food for the family.

Her demeanor belies who she truly is. Tunu is one of the few female bass players in Kenya. She also plays the six-string, a rarity even among bass players in the country. At 21, Tunu has caught the eye of the international world of bass players, landing her an invitation to a bass-playing camp hosted by one of her international idols, Victor Wooten.

She is also a third-year Bachelor of Arts in Music student at Kenyatta University, where she plays the guitar. She picked her musical interest from her father Rogers Ziro and her uncle Harry Saro Kenga.

Both  are from the Coastal tribe of Giriama renowned for their rich artistic culture, particularly in musical compositions and instruments.

Before Tunu was born, her father and uncle formed a band known as Digital Chords. Music, therefore, runs in the family, and it wasn’t long before all the rehearsals and instrumental jamming that was happening around the home caught her interest. Even her younger brother, 17-year-old Rony Ngowa, plays the bass guitar.

Tunu says bass players are hardly noticed, unless they’re female like her, even though bass and the drums are the most important elements in the band; the heartbeat of music.

When did your interest in music start, and was bass the first instrument you played?

My dad always had a guitar in the house, ever since I was little. So one day I asked him to teach me how to play a single melody. As I was playing, he would play the chords with me.

But the real interest for the guitar came after I completed my KCPE and had free time. Also an avid jazz listener, my dad introduced to George Benson, and all these other jazz guitarists. I’d listen to them and tried to play like them.

When did the interest in the bass guitar come in?

We had a lot of bass music in the computer, and my uncle was also a bass player. I used to really admire the speed at which he played, and I wondered how he got to play that fast. I was more drawn to percussive playing than melody.

Then from high school, I developed a passion in music; it’s probably the only thing I read. I started watching a bass player called Michael Pipoquinha, a Brazilian, on YouTube videos and videos that my dad had downloaded.

I challenged myself to play with his prowess someday. The year before I joined campus, after high school, my dad bought my brother a six-stringed bass, which just happened to be Michael’s instrument of choice.

My brother wasn’t really interested in his new instrument because he was already used to the four-string. So that’s when I really started practicing, being trained by my brother.

When did you feel that you were ready to go public with your talent?

My plan had always been for me to be good before I attempted to showcase anything publicly. When I joined university, my classmate, Hulda Serro, who is a vocal artiste, told me she was starting a band and I would part of it.

I couldn’t refuse because we’re very close. What I didn’t know was how aggressive she was about performing before a live audience. She kept pestering Ricky Nanjero to open for his jazz show, and the first public performance for me came last year in

April at Ricky Na Marafiki Afro Jazz show at the Alliance Francaise.

How was the feeling of performing before a crowd?

At first, I used to have the worst stage fright. I wasn’t confident. I am an introvert, and had even tried to get into other professions like law to get away from music. Turns out music is my passion, so I forced myself to play in front of people and changed my perception to knowing that I’ll get better as I continue. If I make a mistake while playing, I try to cover it, and I enjoy the public performances more.

What’s your style of play in the jazz-bass genre?

I really like Brazilian players. Maybe it’s just me, but I think that American players are more into the pentatonic sound – maybe sometimes venturing into the chromatics – but the Brazilians have a distinct sound that I just like, a melodic minor or a harmonic minor. Listening to most other Kenyan bassists, you’ll hear the pentatonic shapes.

Your Facebook videos have garnered a lot of views. Recently, we saw you playing in the international front. How has the journey been so far?

It’s been really exciting. I got a sponsorship from bass guitar manufacturers Fodera to go to Vix Camp, which Victor Wooten facilitates once every year. Fodera gives money towards scholarships every time they sell Joe Compito Wellington memorial basses.

They saw a video I had posted on Facebook, and  Joe’s sister, Tone, awarded it to me, giving me the opportunity to go to the States and experience the camp. You have no idea how much this meant to me because I have always looked up to him.

It was also my first time being on a plane, outside the country and to meet my biggest hero ever. When I put up pictures of him and me, I gained even more popularity back here. It was also my first time being alone.

Muema Nzomo, a keyboardist I would look up to, called to play for them at a private Safaricom Jazz concert at Michael Joseph Centre after watching my first video. Tugi, his guitarist, is probably my favourite, and they had been referred to me by Ricky Nanjero.

How was the camp?

I learnt so much, because I had started feeling like I was at a plateau level and it was frustrating me. I was at the camp for a week, though only for the bass section, and the rest of the week I just moved around. It still feels like a dream.

Do you meet with other bass players to exchange ideas on how to improve your craft?

I partnered with another bass player called Mike Onyie and companies like Nairobass, Jee Media and Frontrunnerz started a workshop called The Bass Garage at International Christian Centre in Nairobi West; we just held the first one.

In university, the focus of our syllabus is on classical and African music, but I am a jazz player and don’t get to learn a lot about my specialty. So, this provides a platform for us to share in a non-formal educational way. We have facilitators – some of the players I’ve looked up to – who show their techniques then attendees get to play after them. Also, during the holidays, I read a lot from the Internet to learn more on techniques of jazz bass playing.

How has life changed since you started making waves because of your videos and performances?

Personally, I don’t feel famous. I do my house chores, I don’t know if that’s what famous people so. But, yes, I’ve been recognised a number of times on the streets. I, however, enjoy the fact that I am in a field where I am not Sauti-Sol-famous. I use matatus when moving around and buy groceries from the shops.

I am a brand ambassador for a bass company from Spain called Janaid. They are custom-making a six-string bass for me from my specifications, because I am not such a big player, and there’s also a specific sound that I wanted. It will be here sometime in September.

I am also a brand ambassador for a loop station from Chuck Levin’s Music Store in Maryland. It is basically loops instrumentations, placing different chords and progressions over each other, so that I can be a one-girl-band. I just got it, so still learning how to use it.

People have been asking me to teach them from all over the world, even via Skype for a fee. I tutor guys from university for my pocket money, and also tutored some students at International School of Kenya.

What do you see for yourself going forward, and if you weren’t a musician, what would you be?

My goals are mostly playing-wise; to get better and the rest will come. I work harder than everyone else, because I realised a lot of people would rather be amazed by something someone else is doing, rather than do it themselves.

If I see a really impressive player, I slow down their videos to see exactly what it is they’re doing and try to replicate that. I also want to look at the business-end of things, like keeping time. I never thought about fame, starting out.

I don’t have a plan B. There’s nothing else that would interest me more than playing bass. I also have a good support system from my family and friends; this helps keep me inspired.