Live Recorded Albums The New Trends In Gospel Music?

From Mwanga album by Evelyn Wanjiru, to Secret Place 2020 by Eunice Njeri with
Tumeshinda hit song, to Dr Sarah K’s, ‘I made it song,’ This Generation by new sensation Kestin
Mbogo among many others, live recordings have never been more vibrant in Kenya than they
are right now.

Gone are the days when all our local musicians in Kenya would do studio produced
songs album after album. That era also marked a lot of play back music in concerts and events
which gave limited access to international invitations for our local artists.
Live recordings initially were for a select few and many shy-d away from them because
of the expensive preparation and execution that goes into it. Recording a studio album seemed
like the quicker, cheaper and less strenuous option for majority of artists. Pst Nikko Ochieng, Liz
Akinyi and Solomon Sila a few years back seemed to be the most notable Live recording
musicians in the country.

Years later, a new generation seems to have taken the mantle. These live recordings
have really improved our sound as a country and made the live band industry vibrant because
the music enthusiasts look forward to such events and releases for an amazing live experience
in worship and creation of an album. Live recordings capture delightful moments of worship in
audio-visual nature that are natural and authentic with an unscripted crowd that draw the
listeners into a profound experience with God.

While for some the experience of capturing and producing live recordings has been
tough, with few cases of live recordings where the entire audio or video recording was lost due
to inexperienced ‘sound engineers’ or unskilled videographers, the industry seems to have
picked up well and learnt from previous mistakes and setbacks. Professionalism is still an issue
but with time the industry will mature to its full potential.
It is also impossible to do this topic without mentioning the capturing of the Kenyan
sound and packaging it to the international scene has finally been made possible by this avenue

and cut outs from church online that has been catapulted by the Covid_19 pandemic. This is
because a lot of Kenyan oldies and songs had not been captured and packaged for the
international audience leaving room for foreign artists to come for events and run away with
melodies from our country, record them for us and become a sensation without giving any
mentions or seeking for approval from the original composers and copyrights owners. Finally,
this space can allow Kenyan gospel musicians to not only lead Kenya but the world in worship
through beautiful productions.
Other notable mentions of live recordings include The encounter album by Sheila Juma
with the Jiwe hit song, Mike Manoa’s ‘Make Room live recording, New level by Babrah Peres,
Celebrate hit song by Evelyn Wanjiru captured during Praise Atmosphere 2018, ‘We See
Victory’ album by Bethu & The Highest Praise Band, among so many more that are on Youtube
with an amazing Kenyan sound.
The live recording industry has simply become the new normal and it does not seem to
be fading away anytime soon.