A percussion rhythm that carries stories and changes the world.
Jackline Kasiva Mutua, voice, guitar, percussion; Michael Munene Gichuhi, bass, backing vocals; Nahshon m Alterneu, guitar, backing vocals; Bonface Odera Onganga, keyboards, backing vocals; Victor Kioko Muthini, drums, backing vocals
“Kasiva, do you hear that?"asked her grandmother as they sat by the fire after dinner. She was a masterful storyteller who interwoven stories with humorous incidents and life insights. When she got tired of telling, in order to take a nap, she tried to distract her six-year-old granddaughter. "Go to the barn and listen to the secret that the Black Bull nzil Smith tells the White Bull nzal Smith."The curious little Kasiva ran into the barn and listened impatiently. Moments later, she returned to her grandmother. "I didn't hear anything ... all I saw was Nzil show licking his nose!«
However, the midwife insisted: "hurry back and listen carefully. The secret is being revealed right now."Determined to hear the animal language, the girl listened in focus. And interrogated. The chirping of crickets in multi-layered patterns, the even breathing of cows, the rustle of the wind in the canopy and the laughter that burst out of the kitchen. There was a rhythm in the apparent randomness of everything. On the way back, she muttered to herself what she heard, and in the evening in the room, these rhythms, she clapped her hands on the bed frame, on her knees, on her chest, on her cheeks, and later on dishes, with spoons, on the school desk, buckets – whatever just came to hand.
So Kasiva Mutua discovered the world of percussion, the most beautiful world there is, he says. Through rhythm, she tells her story, as well as the story of African women. He advocates for their emancipation and gender equality on his continent. She is a graduate journalist and is often involved in projects that have an activist or educational purpose, such as the Nile Project or TED talk. Just over a decade ago, she co-founded the women's percussion group MOTRA (Modern and Traditional Rh Animatthms).
The muzikalnostjo and a charismatic stage is analysed, through which the audience stke a strong bond, but he has been in a number of international stage and to the wider attention of the reach, with the participation of the redstavitvenih ("showcase") in festivals, such as the Jazzahead 2025, and the Womex 2026.
Ritem tolkal, ki nosi zgodbe in spreminja svet.
Jackline Kasiva Mutua, glas, kitara, tolkala; Michael Munene Gichuhi, bas, spremljevalni vokal; Nahshon Mweu, kitara, spremljevalni vokal; Bonface Odera Onganga, klaviature, spremljevalni vokal; Victor Kioko Muthini, bobni, spremljevalni vokal
“Kasiva, slišiš to?« jo je vprašala babica, ko sta po večerji sedeli ob ognju. Bila je mojstrska pripovedovalka, ki je zgodbe prepletala s humornimi pripetljaji in življenjskimi spoznanji. Ko se je utrudila od pripovedovanja, je, da bi lahko malo zadremala, poskušala odvrniti pozornost šestletne vnukinje. »Pojdi v hlev in prisluhni skrivnosti, ki jo črni bik Nzilú pripoveduje belemu biku Nzalúju.« Zvedava mala Kasiva je stekla v hlev in nestrpno poslušala. Čez nekaj trenutkov se je zadihana vrnila k babici. »Nič nisem slišala … Videla sem samo, kako si je Nzilú lizal nos!«
Vendar babica je vztrajala: »Pohiti nazaj in pozorno prisluhni. Skrivnost se razkriva prav zdaj.« Odločena, da bo slišala živalsko govorico, je deklica osredotočeno prisluhnila. In zaslišala. Cvrčanje čričkov v večplastnih vzorcih, enakomerno dihanje krav, šelestenje vetra v krošnjah in smeh, ki se je razlegal iz kuhinje. V navidezni naključnosti vsega je bil ritem. Na poti nazaj si je mrmrala, kar je slišala, in zvečer v sobi te ritme z rokami tleskala po okvirju postelje, po kolenih, po prsnem košu, licih in pozneje na posodah, z žlicami, na šolski mizi, vedrih – kar ji je pač prišlo pod roke.
Tako je Kasiva Mutua odkrila svet tolkal, najlepši svet, kar jih obstaja, pravi. Skozi ritem pripoveduje svojo zgodbo, pa tudi zgodbo afriških žensk. Zavzema se za njihovo emancipacijo in enakopravnost spolov na svoji celini. Je diplomirana novinarka in se pogosto vključuje v projekte, ki imajo aktivistični ali izobraževalni namen, kot je Nile Project ali TED talk. Pred dobrim desetletjem je soustanovila žensko tolkalno skupino MOTRA (Modern and Traditional Rhythms).
Z muzikalnostjo in karizmatično odrsko prezenco, s katero z občinstvom stke močno vez, pa je prodrla na številne mednarodne odre in širšo pozornost dosegla z nastopi na redstavitvenih (»showcase«) festivalih, kot sta Jazzahead 2025 in Womex 2026.