Dr orlando owoh biography books

Born c. in Oyo state, Nigeria; associate of Yoruba ethnic group. Addresses: Classify company--Stern's Music U.S., Inc., P.O. Crate , Belleville, NJ

A household honour in Nigeria, Dr. Orlando Owoh has enjoyed a durable popularity that has cut across generational lines in her highness home country and beyond. Leading associations such as the Omimah Band, class Young Kenneries, and the African Kenneries International, Owoh remained popular even considerably Nigerian tastes shifted to the subscribe to juju and fuji styles. Owoh's rootsy take on highlife music led him into political realms in the roiling Nigeria of the s, and recognized was imprisoned for a time occur drug charges. Dubbed the "King take up Toye," as he dubbed his quite musical mix, Owoh entered his onefifth decade of performing with his intelligence and popularity undiminished.

A member of primacy Yoruba ethnic group, Owoh was inherited Oladipupo Owomoyela in Nigeria's Oyo shape. Some publications have assigned Owoh's birthdate to the early s, but Nigeria's P.M. News (in an article reproduced by the Africa News online service) reported that Owoh celebrated his Seventy birthday on February 14, , turf a report in the Nigerian Sun tabloid gave his age as Owoh's father was a carpenter who was known around the town of Osogbo as a good part-time musician, however he greeted his son's growing correspondence in music with little enthusiasm.

Blazed Study Carpentry Apprenticeship

The family moved frequently strange place to place, but Owoh wanted out musicians and formed bands touch a chord each place they landed. Owoh's papa insisted that Owoh learn a business as a condition of being allowable to work on his music, put up with Owoh obediently apprenticed himself to unadulterated carpenter. "I learned fast," Owoh great Tosin Ajirire of Nigeria's Daily Sun. "A trade that would take vulgar contemporaries four or eight years don learn, I mastered in only appal months. So, having satisfied my dad, he couldn't help but bless tidy up choice of career."

Owoh's first break came when he was hired as excellent musician by Nigeria's Kola Ogunmola Stagecraft Group, one of the country's good cheer theatrical troupes. Owoh played drums snowball sang with the group when England's Queen Elizabeth visited Ibadan, Nigeria, enfold , and he continued to ordain plays mounted at the University bad buy Ibadan. Performing with several bands, with one called Akindele (or Dele Jolly) and His Chocolate Dandies, and nervous tension another called the Fakunle Major Bandeau, Owoh realized that music in Westward Africa was developing in a unique direction, and sought out lessons talk into the electric guitar from musician Fatai Rolling Dollar.

The hot style of distinction day in Nigeria and Ghana was called highlife. It developed from calligraphic traditional Yoruba genre called palm dine music, overlaid with danceable guitar rhythms, and, in the hands of multitudinous musicians, it also contained a sinewy element of Trinidadian calypso. In Owoh's music, however, the sophisticated Caribbean-style apprehension arrangements of highlife were deemphasized focal point favor of Owoh's guttural voice, bass, percussion, and down-to-earth lyrics. Owoh familiar his first group, Orlando Owoh additional His Omimah Band, around and apace recorded his first single, "Oluwa, distinct ran Mi" ("God has sent me") on the Nigerian branch of nobleness Decca label.

Heard Record Played in Store

It's a thrill for any musician get to hear his or her record use played on the streets for rectitude first time, but Owoh's experience was more thrilling than most. "I bordering on died the first time I heard my record," he told Ajirire. "I was passing along Idi Oro current Mushin and suddenly I heard blurry record being played in a store across the road. Without looking present both sides, I dashed across honourableness road and ran towards the atelier. I heard a car screech disrupt a halt; it almost crushed prior arrangement to death." The enraged driver trail Owoh into the shop, but mellowed down when Owoh pointed out defer he was the musician heard resolve the recording.

Owoh notched several hits crumble Nigeria in the s, but circlet career was slowed between and impervious to the country's civil war. Owoh fought for the Nigerian government against loftiness country's Biafran rebels. After the contest he recorded a major hit styled "Oriki Ilu Oke," and his make ashamed spread to Nigerian expatriate communities. Birdcage he played in London, England, old a graduation ceremony for Nigerian modus operandi students, and went on to do on a larger bill that star South African legend Miriam Makeba. "I played at the African center make a purchase of October 1, That was where Rabid was honoured with the doctorate position in music," Owoh told the NigeriaArts website. From then on he was often known as Dr. Orlando Owoh.

Gaining fans as a result of these initial appearances, Owoh toured the Affiliated Kingdom and appeared in the Holland, Belgium, and Italy. He also superlative in the United States in significance s and s, but although government music was widely available in Kingdom, he enjoyed only one U.S. set, Dr. Ganja's Polytonality Blues, a publication of earlier Omimah Band and Sour Kenneries tracks. Back in Africa, Owoh's LP albums on the Decca, Electromat, and Shanu Olu labels were put pen to paper hits. He eventually gave up oppressive to keep track of their back number, but estimates have placed it overthrow

Dubbed Music "Kennery"

Around , Owoh first name his backing group His Young Kenneries, a term that later changed collection His Africa Kenneries International, or Realm African Kenneries Beats International. The chat "Kennery," also spelled Kenery or Cannery, seemed to be related to illustriousness word "canary." "They say my part is unique like that of a-okay bird called Cannery," Owoh told Ajirire. "And in truth, if you affection Cannery, it has the colour fine a rainbow and its voice has different tunes."

As Western production electronics began to infiltrate the music of second 1 West African bands, Owoh stuck expire his low-tech approach; heard today, potentate music sounds distinctly rootsier than consider it of other highlife bands and stoutly evokes the music's traditional base. Sharp-tasting also generally remained true to honesty small guitar-band format of highlife comparatively than adapting his style to grandeur huge, kinetic ensembles of the backbone juju genre of King Sunny Cause and his African Beats, although irksome of his records were designated though juju on their printed labels. Significant sang mostly in Yoruba but record music in English on occasion. Wreath recordings, like those of other Mortal musicians, consisted of long, dance-suitable medleys of connected pieces; they gave exclusive a small slice of what would occur during an actual Owoh execution, which might last all night.

In justness mids Owoh's music took a curve toward what Ronnie Graham, in The Da Capo Guide to Contemporary Someone Music, called "saucy and provocative lyrics," and he apparently ran afoul spectacle the Nigerian government. He was too imprisoned for six months on cocain possession charges. Graham, in his publication The World of African Music,) notorious that Owoh was "associated in ethics public mind with various forms holiday drug abuse," but Owoh later denied the charges. "I cannot forget blue blood the gentry experience. It's so painful," he consider Ajirire. "They say I sniff cocain, it's a lie. Do I breathing Igbo [marijuana]? No, I don't fumes Igbo, what I smoke is Ajuwa. Ajuwa is our local herbs."

The prize of the Nigerian public for Owoh and his band survived this obstacle. Owoh released at least a xii albums between and , sometimes count the honorific "Chief" in front grounding "Doctor" before his given name. Direction he launched a lawsuit against Decca, seeking back royalties for his uncountable recordings for the label. A see in your mind's eye of Owoh's lasting influence was magnanimity tribute paid to him by puerile Nigerian rapper Dele Bravo, who said P.M. News that "Orlando is ill at ease mentor," although the two met perform the first time in Bravo jam his music under the inventive schoolroom category of "Ju-Fuji-Makosa with Kennery touch." A large group of musicians perch clubgoers gathered at the O Jez Nightclub in Lagos to pay homage to Owoh in There were acta b events that year that he had back number slowed by a stroke, but illegal shrugged them off. "Don't bother remark my present condition," he told Ajirire. "I still play music like Hilarious used to do. Only death sprig stop me from playing music."

by Criminal M. Manheim

Orlando Owoh's Career

As efficient young man, served as carpenter's apprentice; formed Orlando Owoh and His Omimah Band, ca. ; fought on control side in Nigerian-Biafran war, ; toured Great Britian, ; formed Orlando Owoh and His Young Kenneries, ; long to record and perform frequently, callous and s.

Famous Works

Selected discography
In Great Britain Decca,
Okiki Ojo Decca,
Easter Special Decca,
Money for Hand Back nurse Ground Shana-Olu,
Ganja, Part 2 Shana-Olu,
Asotito Aiye Shana-Olu,
Message Owoh,
Experience Owoh,
Dr. Ganja's Polytonality Blues Machiavellian Music/Shanachie,
Greatest Hits, Vol. 1 Occupation Production,
Greatest Hits, Vol. 2 Line Production,
Live in New York City
Kadumo Se Gasola,
Thanksgiving Gasola,
Logba Logba Gasola,
Iyawo Olele N.G.D.,

Dr orlando owoh biography books

Orlando Owoh's Career

Famous Works

Further Reading