Hellon performing on stage. Photo/FILE
By BONIFACE MWALII
Posted Sunday, March 25 2012 at 00:00
Posted Sunday, March 25 2012 at 00:00
IN SUMMARY
- Jazzman Joseph Hellon is a man who many blame for ‘ruining’ former TV girl Esther Arunga’s life. He had Kenyans intrigued for a full year with his Finger of God drama. After all was said and done, Hellon is still standing strong and he is back to what made him famous, the Saxophone.
How is your presidential bid coming along?
Parting shot?
I decided to suspend that for a while to focus on my music, which is what Kenyans seem to like most about me. I still intend to contest in future after my name has been cleared of all the scandals.
For now I’m just trying to do what I do best and expand my networks. May be in the next five years or so I will vie if I feel I’m ready. If not, there will always be other chances because I’m still quite young.
Do you really believe you stood a chance?
Oh yes. I had a lot of support from the youth and the entire country knew of my ambition. I had laid out concrete strategies and had things taken another direction we would be having a totally different conversation today.
Unfortunately the powers that be saw me as a potential threat and went to great lengths to contain my growing popularity. But I’m still here?
On the contrary most people dismissed you as a non-starter, why would you believe anyone considered you a political threat?
There’s a lot that went on behind the scenes that the media never reported after I declared my intention to vie for the presidency. I stirred quite a storm in some political bigwigs’ back yards and they used their influence in the media to black out the good things and only portray me in bad light.
However that is all water under the bridge now, I will come back bigger and better.
What about your spiritual calling, are you still pursuing it?
Of course. After last year’s saga, a good number of the faithful left the Finger of God Church but a few remained and together we have kept it alive.
We hold regular meetings in our respective residences where we share the Word and fellowship together. We, however, cannot hold public gatherings until the government completes its investigations and all the cases related to Finger of God have been determined.
What about all that other stuff that Finger of God was associated with?
People really misunderstood the entire tale and the media was too busy chasing a sensational story to bother with the facts, which were getting in the way of otherwise eye catching news.
Anyone who ever came to our church can tell you that it was designed to cater to the spiritual needs of entertainers and other public figures who couldn’t fit into mainstream churches.
I merely gave them a way to connect with God without having to endure the judgmental stares from regular church-goers because they had dreadlocks or because they sang in discos.
I’m happy that all the rumours have now been put to rest since none of my accusers was able to produce any evidence during the investigations.
Do you in any way feel responsible for the role you played in Esther Arunga’s downfall?
Absolutely not. Unless you consider being a gracious and generous host wrong.
Esther was like a sister to me and at first when she told me about her relationship with Quincy Timberlake, I supported her when no one else did because I knew Quincy from back when I was in Primary school and I was genuinely happy that two of my friends had fallen in love.
But when I later realised that Quincy wasn’t all he had made himself out to be and that he had changed a great deal from the ‘Joginder Singh’ – his nickname in primary school – I used to know, I advised her to leave him but she would hear none of it.
I admit my folly in misjudging Quincy’s character but I did try my best to pull Esther away from him.
Are you still in touch with them?
Not really. They changed all their phone numbers. As far as I know they got married and now live somewhere in Nairobi’s Kayole estate.
Your lifestyle is quite lavish compared to most Kenyan entertainers, how do you account for your wealth?
I’m a jazz musician and jazz is not everyday kind of music. The type of people who hire me are not cash strained and that is how I am able to make an average of Sh250,000 from a single performance.
In addition, my wife and I teach music and we have also trained tutors whom we hire out to teach in various high cost schools in the country.
Then of course there are the on and off contracts like the deal with Tusker Project Fame which earned me about Sh2 million.
In addition I have partnered with my wife’s father in some real estate and farming ventures. He is one of the pioneer investors in the country and because I married into his family, he guided me to invest in residential and commercial property trading and Aloe Vera farming which is quite lucrative.
How did you get into jazz?
I came from a very poor family where eating three times a day was considered a luxury. Through scholarships, I was able to get a sound education and it is through my schooling that I got to interact with jazz.
When I was in Form 1 at Starehe Boys Centre, we had a music prefect, Geoffrey Njogu, who played the saxophone.
It was through him that I learnt to play it and many other instruments and I went on to hone my skills over the years. By the time I cleared high school, I was qualified to play most instruments.
How has your return to the mainstream entertainment industry been received?
Naturally there are a few skeptics but it has mostly been encouraging. There are those who still believe I run a cult but I intend to earn everyone’s trust once again by proving what I am made of.
That is what my new album is all about. It’s a mixture of traditional jazz fused with Rhumba creating a sound that can appeal to all and sundry. I’ve also initiated a project aimed at getting more young people to appreciate jazz music.
Tell us more about that.
It’s a weekly gig called ‘Jazz and Clads’. It has two elements, fashion and music. We have models and designers show casing unique fashion trends and young jazz musicians playing live music.
It has been happening every Friday for the past three months and so far the turnout is remarkable. Our main target is young people since majority of them know very little about the beauty that is jazz music.
I am thankful to everyone who stood by me during my period of trial and now that I’m back I intend to pick up from where I left off.
Buzz@ke.nationmedia.com
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment