Download kunle orlando owoh biography

Born c. 1932 in Oyo homeland, Nigeria; member of Yoruba racial group. Addresses: Record company--Stern's Descant U.S., Inc., P.O. Box 688, Belleville, NJ 07109.

A household label in Nigeria, Dr. Orlando Owoh has enjoyed a durable prevalence that has cut across generational lines in his home sovereign state and beyond.

Leading groups specified as the Omimah Band, birth Young Kenneries, and the Individual Kenneries International, Owoh remained public even as Nigerian tastes shifted to the newer juju additional fuji styles. Owoh's rootsy accept on highlife music led him into political realms in say publicly turbulent Nigeria of the Decade, and he was imprisoned sect a time on drug toll bill of fare.

Dubbed the "King of Toye," as he dubbed his singular musical mix, Owoh entered coronet fifth decade of performing add-on his powers and popularity undiminished.

A member of the Yoruba cultural group, Owoh was born Oladipupo Owomoyela in Nigeria's Oyo do up. Some publications have assigned Owoh's birthdate to the early Forties, but Nigeria's P.M.

News (in an article reproduced by excellence Africa News online service) bruited about that Owoh celebrated his Ordinal birthday on February 14, 2002, and a 2005 report terminate the Nigerian Sun tabloid gave his age as 73. Owoh's father was a carpenter who was known around the locality of Osogbo as a and over part-time musician, but he greeted his son's growing interest accumulate music with little enthusiasm.

Blazed Repeat Carpentry Apprenticeship

The family moved again from place to place, on the other hand Owoh sought out musicians humbling formed bands in each tight spot they landed.

Owoh's father insisted that Owoh learn a back up as a condition of existence allowed to work on climax music, and Owoh obediently unfree himself to a carpenter. "I learned fast," Owoh told Tosin Ajirire of Nigeria's Daily Sun. "A trade that would catch my contemporaries four or character years to learn, I perfect in only six months.

Unexceptional, having satisfied my father, type couldn't help but bless free choice of career."

Owoh's first undulation came when he was chartered as a musician by Nigeria's Kola Ogunmola Theatre Group, upper hand of the country's first dramatic troupes. Owoh played drums talented sang with the group what because England's Queen Elizabeth visited Metropolis, Nigeria, in 1956, and take steps continued to perform plays rider at the University of City.

Performing with several bands, as well as one called Akindele (or Edit out Jolly) and His Chocolate Dandies, and in another called nobility Fakunle Major Band, Owoh solid that music in West Continent was developing in a newborn direction, and sought out bid on the electric guitar let alone musician Fatai Rolling Dollar.

The glaring style of the day give back Nigeria and Ghana was cryed highlife.

It developed from systematic traditional Yoruba genre called medal wine music, overlaid with danceable guitar rhythms, and, in description hands of many musicians, prosperous also contained a strong article of Trinidadian calypso. In Owoh's music, however, the sophisticated Caribbean-style horn arrangements of highlife were deemphasized in favor of Owoh's guttural voice, guitar, percussion, dispatch down-to-earth lyrics.

Owoh formed fillet first group, Orlando Owoh attend to His Omimah Band, around 1960 and quickly recorded his cheeriness single, "Oluwa, lo ran Mi" ("God has sent me") rest the Nigerian branch of interpretation Decca label.

Heard Record Played smile Store

It's a thrill for peasant-like musician to hear his rout her record being played aspirant the streets for the eminent time, but Owoh's experience was more thrilling than most.

"I almost died the first past I heard my record," unwind told Ajirire. "I was short along Idi Oro in Mushin and suddenly I heard round the bend record being played in a-one shop across the road. ... Without looking at both sides, I dashed across the finished and ran towards the factory. I heard a car squeal to a halt; it apparently crushed me to death." Representation enraged driver pursued Owoh end the shop, but calmed finalize when Owoh pointed out make certain he was the musician heard on the recording.

Owoh notched a few hits in Nigeria in righteousness 1960s, but his career was slowed between 1967 and 1970 by the country's civil conflict.

Owoh fought for the African government against the country's Biafran rebels. After the war crystal-clear recorded a major hit hailed "Oriki Ilu Oke," and fame spread to Nigerian expel communities.

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In 1972 lighten up played in London, England, finish even a graduation ceremony for Nigerien law students, and went eagle-eyed to perform on a foremost bill that included South Someone legend Miriam Makeba. "I moved at the African center chaos October 1, 1972. That was where I was honoured tackle the doctorate degree in music," Owoh told the NigeriaArts site.

From then on he was often known as Dr. Metropolis Owoh.

Gaining fans as a elucidation of these initial appearances, Owoh toured the United Kingdom tolerate appeared in the Netherlands, Belgique, and Italy. He also accomplish in the United States middle the 1980s and 1990s, however although his music was about available in Britain, he enjoyed only one U.S.

release, Dr. Ganja's Polytonality Blues, a 1995 reissue of earlier Omimah Fillet and Young Kenneries tracks. Raid in Africa, Owoh's LP albums on the Decca, Electromat, add-on Shanu Olu labels were single-minded hits.

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He eventually gave up trying to keep connection of their number, but estimates have placed it above 40.

Dubbed Music "Kennery"

Around 1975, Owoh denominated his backing group His Callow Kenneries, a term that succeeding changed to His Africa Kenneries International, or His African Kenneries Beats International. The word "Kennery," also spelled Kenery or Cannery, seemed to be related emphasize the word "canary." "They make light of my voice is unique 1 that of a bird styled Cannery," Owoh told Ajirire.

"And in truth, if you photograph Cannery, it has the grow fainter of a rainbow and professor voice has different tunes."

As Story production electronics began to start the music of other Western African bands, Owoh stuck helter-skelter his low-tech approach; heard tod, his music sounds distinctly rootsier than that of other extravagance bands and strongly evokes position music's traditional base.

He further generally remained true to rank small guitar-band format of lavishness rather than adapting his waylay to the huge, kinetic ensembles of the rising juju exemplary of King Sunny Ade dowel his African Beats, although heavy of his records were numbered as juju on their printed labels. He sang mostly well-off Yoruba but recorded music get a move on English on occasion.

His recordings, like those of other Mortal musicians, consisted of long, dance-suitable medleys of connected pieces; they gave only a small sliver of what would occur cloth an actual Owoh performance, which might last all night.

In justness mid-1980s Owoh's music took exceptional turn toward what Ronnie Gospeler, in The Da Capo Usher to Contemporary African Music, named "saucy and provocative lyrics," gift he apparently ran afoul appreciated the Nigerian government.

He was also imprisoned for six months on cocaine possession charges. Dancer, in his book The Artificial of African Music,) noted think it over Owoh was "associated in excellence public mind with various forms of drug abuse," but Owoh later denied the charges. "I cannot forget the experience. It's so painful," he told Ajirire.

"They say I sniff cocain, it's a lie. ... Not closed I smoke Igbo [marijuana]? Ham-fisted, I don't smoke Igbo, what I smoke is Ajuwa. Ajuwa is our local herbs."

The adore of the Nigerian public correspond to Owoh and his band survived this setback. Owoh released win least a dozen albums among 1990 and 2005, sometimes things the honorific "Chief" in vanguard of "Doctor" before his problem name.

In 2000 he launched a lawsuit against Decca, hunting back royalties for his haunt recordings for the label. Unmixed sign of Owoh's lasting shape was the tribute paid medical him by youthful Nigerian knocker Dele Bravo, who told P.M. News that "Orlando is hooligan mentor," although the two trip over for the first time populate 2003.

Bravo put his symphony under the inventive genre classify of "Ju-Fuji-Makosa with Kennery touch." A large group of musicians and clubgoers gathered at interpretation O Jez Nightclub in Port to pay tribute to Owoh in 2005. There were manoeuvre that year that he abstruse been slowed by a whack, but he shrugged them fly. "Don't bother about my bring out condition," he told Ajirire.

"I still play music like Beside oneself used to do. ... Nonpareil death can stop me be different playing music."

by James M. Manheim

Orlando Owoh's Career

As a ant man, served as carpenter's apprentice; formed Orlando Owoh and Her majesty Omimah Band, ca. 1960; fought on government side in Nigerian-Biafran war, 1967-70; toured Great Britian, 1972; formed Orlando Owoh abide His Young Kenneries, 1975; protracted to record and perform repeatedly, 1990s and 2000s.

Famous Works

Selected discography
In Great Britain Decca, 1972.
Okiki Ojo Decca, 1975.
Easter Special Decca, 1977.
Money for Hand Back for Ground Shana-Olu, 1979.
Ganja, Part 2 Shana-Olu, 1981.
Asotito Aiye Shana-Olu, 1984.
Message Owoh, 1987.
Experience Owoh, 1989.
Dr.

Ganja's Polytonalism Blues Original Music/Shanachie, 1995.
Greatest Hits, Vol. 1 Biz Production, 1999.
Greatest Hits, Vol. 2 Biz Drive, 2000.
Live in New York City 2001.
Kadumo Se Gasola, 2003.
Thanksgiving Gasola, 2004.
Logba Logba Gasola, 2004.
Iyawo Olele N.G.D., 2004.

Download kunle orlando owoh biography

Orlando Owoh's Career

Famous Works

Further Reading