Orlando Julius is one of the living legends of Nigerian and African music, a genuine pioneer whose early fusions of highlife and soul paved the way for Afro beat of today.
Born in 1943, Orlando Julius Aremu Olusanya Ekemode was the fourth son of a family of merchants, and following the death of his father in 1957, little Orlando moved to Ibadan, the then-capital of western region, to make name for himself.
Orlando Julius. Started his career in the '60s, he was fusing Afro-Pop, Highlife, Afro-beat, World beat with those of American pop, soul, and R&B. Orlando as an inventor, developed and popularised Afro music that we are now enjoying.
According to him, he said‘If you listen to what I’ve recorded and released, you can tell that I started Afro. I don’t say that Fela is not the king of Afrobeat, but I am the father. And the father is the elder. And I’m glad that a lot of people know that.
Orlando started his band in Ibadan, and has his gig at the then Independence Hotel in Ibadan.
Orlando said he started out as a drummer, but soon learned multiple instruments, including the alto saxophone, with which he’s most strongly identified today; recorded his first song “Igbehin Adara,” but ‘my second one was a hit. It was called “Jaguar Nana,” recorded for Philips Records in Lagos. 60s.
‘Aside from performing and recording in his native Nigeria, he spent many years in the United States working on collaborations with Lamont Dozier, the Crusaders, and Hugh Masekela. His 1966 effort, Super Afro Soul, made him a national celebrity in Nigeria and even went so far as to influence music in the United States. The record's dramatic, highly melodic incorporation of soul, pop, and funk was very much ahead of its time, and some say that Super Afro Soul helped shape the funk movement that swept over the United States in subsequent years.
In early 2014, the Heliocentrics brought him to their all-analog studio in North London, where they backed him in a series of recordings that featured vintage tunes that had never been recorded as well as new compositions.’ Jaiyede Afro’ was issued in September.
Please join me to wish this great son of Africa happy birthday.
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