Jayne Joan Grange sings nostalgically about Kenya

A Kenyan woman living in France has just released an eclectic album of love songs running the gamut of pop, funk, jazz and R&B that is likely to be readily consumed at home.

The music career of Jayne Joan Grange, who is also about to publish a book on inter-racial contemporary romance, began at The Reef Hotel in Mombasa where she performed with The Vikings Band. Her 12-track album, J'irai jusqu'au bout (I will go to the end), is mainly in French with one song in English and another in Kiswahili. The title track is pop-styled and appears to present the Giryama woman formerly known as Jayne Bendera Kadenge at the best of her vocals that soar above the well arranged instrumentation and music.

The songs most likely to appeal to a wider section of Kenyans are Je serai la pour toi (I will be there for you), Une simple melodie (One simple melody), J'irai jusqu'au bout, and Aha-la-boum boum that, one feels, should have been the title track. Aha-la-boum boum is sung in Kiswahili, English and French. It stands out mainly for its nostalgic message about the singer's yearning to see her mother:

To show how important and personal the song is to her, the artiste remixes it besides redoing it as a dance of stars (La dance des etoiles). But redoing the song seems to vitiate the strength of the album as it gives the impression the diva may have run out of material and was simply redoing the same song to feel space on the recording. One simple melody has a lush and contemplative feel to it

In I am on my way, a woman who has suffered at the hands of her lover and now can no longer bear the humiliation, tells him that she has had enough of his behaviour and that her tears no longer flow:

This song, wholly in English, almost sounds like an improved version of Rick Astley's Hold me tight. Seule (Alone), as the title suggests, is a sad song, with a distant feel to it.

Umana-Africa invites the listener to Africa, the continent of song and dance. Though with modern instrumentation, its techno feel readily connects with the modern listener as the background vocals seduce the listener. I don't understand what Umana-Africa means, though. One may wonder why the diva refers to Aha-la boum boum interchangeably as 'The language of love' and 'A dance of stars'. She presents it in Kiswahili, French and English to the background chants. While L'homme de ma vie (The man of my life) is jazzy R&B, Parfum de vie (Perfume of life) features children in a Sunday-school-like performance. Danse chaque danse (Dance, every dance) wraps up the album.

ArtMatters.Info first came in touch with Jayne Joan Grange when she wrote in requesting advice on how and where she could have her manuscript of inter-racial contemporary romance published. "Starting an interracial contemporary romance series," she wrote, "is my aim. I have written several manuscripts and would like to get an opinion from you." Contact having been established, Grange explained that her aim is "starting interracial contemporary romance" as "there are so many romance books in our country written by foreigners" and that time is ripe for Kenyans to write their own interracial romance books.

"I am writing from the heart as I have read thousands of books and concocting love stories is my pastime. I'm also writing these kind of interracial stories because I am married to a French man and I have never found a romance book that addresses mixed marriages," she said in an online interview. The synopses of her two manuscripts-Heaven on earth, Tamed--read well.

Here is Heaven on earth:

Twelve years ago, a Kenyan girl fell in love with a dark, handsome Spanish named Nick. The first night he claimed her lips; the second day, he made sweet love to her; the third day he gave her heaven on earth and whispered to her words that inflamed her senses. However her dreams were shattered upon realising that her handsome Spaniard had promised the very same things to her cousin, Julie!

Janelle, the cover of the music album

Then Tamed:

Tamed revolves around Sarah who, following the death of her parents in Nairobi, is whisked away by her aunt to slave for her in return for shelter. After years of mistreatment, Sara decides to visit the one town that has always pulled at her heartstrings. However, a slight accident makes her lose her memory; she wakes up to find herself in a magnificent mansion and learns that her name is Clarissa and that she is engaged to the most forbidding man!

Daughter of a police officer with whom she lived in Nairobi's Kariokor Estate, Jayne Bendera Kadenge attended City Primary and Pangani Girls' schools in Nairobi before moving to Mombasa with her Kenya Police inspector father, Albert Kadenge. She then sang with the Vikings Band at the Reef Hotel before meeting and marrying Robert Joan Grangé, a French national. She and her husband, who also doubles up as her producer and manager, have two children-Natasha and Maxime. They have lived together in Lombia over the past nine years.

Grange dedicates her music recording to her mother, father, sisters and brother: "I love you and miss you. These songs are for you." While she provided the words for the songs with Didier Capbern, Elizabeth Kater, and Ute Berling, the songs were composed by Capbern, Michael Herzer, Horst Schnebel, and H-Two.

While Robert Joan Grangé managed and executive-produced the album, its dubbing was at Studio 17 in Germany

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