George Ramogi was a Kenya

Kenya

Kenya , officially known as the Republic of Kenya, is a country in East Africa that lies on the equator, with the Indian Ocean to its south-east...

n musician

Musician

A musician is an artist who plays a musical instrument. It may or may not be the person's profession. Musicians can be classified by their roles in performing music and writing music.Also....* A person who makes music a profession....

, who empowered the traditional luo

Luo

Luo may refer to:*Luo , a group of related African ethnic groups.*Luo , a people of Kenya and Tanzania, part of the above named group...

benga and rumba genre of music. Ramogi was known for his spur of the good life and his notable appearances at bars and clubs in western Kenya-Nyanza

Nyanza

Nyanza may refer to:*Nyanza, Rwanda**Nyanza District, the district surrounding Nyanza, Rwanda*Nyanza Province, Kenya*Nyanza Lac, Burundi*Nyanza, the Bantu word for lake, in particular:**Lake Albert **Lake Edward...

 region. During the beginning of his career.George is believed to have been the real force behind “benga

Benga music

Benga is a genre of Kenyan popular music. It evolved between the late 1940s and late 1960s, in Kenya's capital city of Nairobi. In the 1940s, the African Broadcasting Service in Nairobi aired a steady stream of soukous, South African kwela, Zairean finger-style guitar and various kinds of Cuban...

” as a genre.

Biography

It was in 1965 that Ramogi and colleagues started the Luo Sweet Band, later changed to Continental Kilo Jazz Band (or C.K. Jazz). The nucleus of this group had been performing together, on and off, right up to Ramogi’s death at the age of 52 in 1997.

In 1994, a small group of Kenyans in the United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 pooled their resources to bring Ramogi and band to the US to perform. The "Safari" CD, recorded in the US, is an outgrowth of that tour and, in fact, contains praise songs (as is common) for several of the individuals who organised the tour. Although not a very polished production, it’s certainly authentic benga and it has its moments of greatness. The cassette contains more songs from the same recording session and somewhat better audio quality.

Ramogi has also been recoginised through his recordings with other Kenyan musicians such as Were Carey, Ochieng Kabaselleh, Daniel Owino Misiani

Daniel Owino Misiani

Daniel Owino Misiani was a musician from Kenya. He was known as the "King of History" in Kenya; overseas, he was known as "the grandfather of benga", of which he was a pioneer....

 and Tom Kodiyo
He created C.K Dumbe Dumbe Jazz band in response to the popular Zairean group Orchestre Lipua Lipua. Dumbe Dumbe is a Luo word for the children playing in the rain (nyithindo go dumbe dumbe).More on George Ramogi is coming up in soon to be published book by long time friend of George Ramogi Mr Mondeng Wetaler.The book shines the light on a humble beginning of George Ramogi to star-studded funeral of the all charismatic and famous son of Kamwala Weta.This book will be a must read to all fans of George Ramogi.