From Narok to Nairobi to the world

Edward Parseen grew up in Narok County and came to music by way of formal study, earning a Bachelor of Music in Performance from Kenyatta University in 2007. He mastered saxophone and trumpet there, and began performing across Nairobi before he had finished his degree.

In June 2008 he founded Different Faces Band — named for the many faces of jazz the group intended to play, and for the different lives its members brought to the stand. The original trio formed with classmates Zach Amunga and Stanley Kyalo. By 2010 the group had settled around the quartet that still defines its sound.

The band's early years were built in Nairobi's clubs and lounges: residencies, festival support slots, and the slow accumulation of a reputation for turning up prepared. That reputation opened the door. In December 2015 they were selected as curtain-raisers for the Safaricom Jazz Lounge, opening for Kirk Whalum, Gerald Albright and Norman Brown.

International invitations followed — Ethiopia's Selam Festival and the Cape Town International Jazz Festival, both in 2016. In 2018 the band performed at Safaricom International Jazz Day on a bill headlined by Manu Dibango.

Parseen's playing draws equally on Hugh Masekela and Manu Dibango, on Miles Davis and John Coltrane, and on the fusion of BWB and Fourplay. His solos favour melody over abstraction — 'melodic lines, like in most African songs' — which is precisely why audiences who do not think of themselves as jazz listeners stay until the end.

The band released its debut EP, Breaking Ground, in 2022. Parseen continues to lead Different Faces Band across festivals, corporate stages and private events in Kenya and beyond.