American Jazz maestro empowers HIV patients via music

It is a busy Friday night at Le Chateau, but forks and knives pause halfway and conversations halt when Joey Blake strolls into the restaurant. Dressed entirely in white from linen pants and white sweatshirt to white fedora, Blake heads straight for the stage and slides onto the stool next to Kigali’s resident musician-extraordinaire, Kim Thuita. Blake leans toward the microphone and croons, “Mm-mmm Georgia.” An Associate Professor at the Berklee College of Music in Boston, Blake is a multi-talented artiste whose musical prowess spans from composition, production, and recording to performances that range from voice to piano, guitar, bass, and percussion. He has recorded and produced five albums for SoVoSo, an acappella group that spun from a former partnership with ten-time Grammy Award winner, Bobby McFerrin. In addition to the numerous arranging credits and recordings to his name, Blake is also a renowned vocal instructor in Oakland, California, where he is the Director of Music at The Golden Gate Academy. Blake makes a statement – not just with a voice that is as silky smooth as it is rhythmically percussive – but with a lifelong dedication to promoting harmony and changing the world through music. “I grew up as a child admiring Martin Luther King, Jr. and Gandhi, these people who were ambassadors of peace and harmony and community,” said Blake, “Music was my way to find a way to create something like that in the world. For me, music is a way to communicate with people, a way to lift the spirit.” This is Blake’s first time in Rwanda. It is also his first time in Africa. He arrived in Kigali on Sunday, February5, and commenced his first field experience with Musicians Without Borders (MwB), an international network organisation that uses the power of music to connect communities, bridge divides and heal the wounds of war and conflict. For one week, Blake partnered with MwB to lead music workshops that trained the older patients of WE-ACTx (Women’s Equity and Access to Care and Treatment) to become music leaders. These twenty “peer parents” are HIV positive individuals, 18 to 24 years old, who mentor younger patients, ages 6 to 18. “HIV care cannot simply be medical treatment,” said Noam Shuster, a volunteer at WE-ACTx, “It has to be a holistic approach where the patients are also getting empowerment from other mediums as well, such as theatre, dance and music.” “These musicians come here, they train the older youth leaders, and then the youth leaders gain actual skill and leadership that they can teach the younger kids.” “Even without having the musicians here, the programme is sustainable.” Shuster said that the sustainability of music education is one of the programme’s greatest strengths. Blake is moved by his experience in Rwanda. “Knowing some of the things that [these patients] are going through with their personal lives, it’s inspiring for me to see their enthusiasm and their pride and strength,” he noted. Blake shared the story of one patient who initially refused to sing and participate in the workshops, but over the last two days became engaged and fully integrated in the programme. “It was great to watch her go up to the front of the class – she was loud and strong and she just came out of her shell; it was beautiful to watch,” said Blake, and added, “Music is one of the these things that restores your soul faster than anything.” Blake plans to return to Rwanda. At Berklee, Blake has started an organisation called “Singing Tribe” that uses music to connect and build communities. Blake hopes that the Singing Tribe will be able to visit countries like Rwanda to create partnerships with local organisations and develop scholarship programmes that give talented local musicians the opportunity to attend Berklee. The “Singing Tribe” also serves as a model – a microcosm of a world where people of different backgrounds and nationalities can come together in mutual appreciation of music. “There are 25 of us from 14 different countries,” said Blake, “We’re enjoying and sharing music together – there’s no reason why the world can’t do the same.”

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American Jazz maestro empowers HIV patients via music