Victor Abimbola Olaiya: Gone with his trumpet
A musical Halley’s comet eclipsed the Nigerian musical firmament almost unnoticed last Wednesday. Victor Abimbola Olaiya, highlife music maestro, bandleader, businessman and doyen of highlife music left us forever on February 12. He was just a few months shy of his 90th birthday. Born in Calabar to parents of Ekiti descent, Olaiya rebelled against parental wish […]
A musical Halley’s comet eclipsed the Nigerian musical firmament almost unnoticed last Wednesday. Victor Abimbola Olaiya, highlife music maestro, bandleader, businessman and doyen of highlife music left us forever on February 12. He was just a few months shy of his 90th birthday.
Born in Calabar to parents of Ekiti descent, Olaiya rebelled against parental wish to study Civil Engineering at Howard University, and chose to play music. Olaiya learnt to play the trumpet at an early age and mastered it so much he played with icons like Louis Armstrong. He bestrode Nigerian social life from pre-independence till his exit popularizing a genre reportedly honed by Ghanaian legend ET Mensah with whom he also paired.
Ever seen a man diligent in his works, says the scriptures – he would stand before kings and not mere men. Olaiya epitomized that saying, entertaining the Queen and several high-ranking Nigerian and global patrons. During the civil war, he became the rallying trumpet for Nigerian troops earning the honorary rank of lieutenant colonel.
He formed his first band, the Cool Cats when he was only 24. It earned global acclaim culminating in a grand performance at the International Jazz Festival in the defunct Czechoslovakia where he baptized it the All Stars Band. It was all stars by every inch of definition coaching and inspiring the likes of Fela Anikulapo-Kuti and top drummer, Tony Allen as band members.
Olaiya was more than a star. He ran a successful musical instrument distribution company across Africa and founded the famous Stadium Hotel in Surulere. He was one time president of the Nigerian Union of Musicians.
Highlife, the genre he nationalized influences current music and musicians. Highlife employs the use of strong bass, deep percussions, solo guitar and horns – a rhythmic blend infused with lyrics that lightens the mood at social gatherings, nudging listeners to get up, sing and swing.
One of his best musical pieces, Baby Jowo was lately remixed to popular acclaim featuring 2Face. In an exclusive with me, Bimbo Esho, a Lagos-based music archivist described Olaiya as ‘one of the last originals’
AG Ahmed, a neuropsychiatric and musical connoisseur told me that ‘although highlife music purportedly originated in Ghana, the genre was perfected in Nigeria by the likes of Olaiya. He made Nigeria a perfect adoptive parent of the Ghanaian genre.’
Esho said Olaiya would ‘be remembered for his evergreen songs which contained morals, historical facts, etc. He contributed immensely to the growth of highlife music in Nigeria,’ she says.
Abiodun Adeniyi, a professor of communications at Baze University in Abuja said of Olaiya: ‘he captured and sustained your imagination through a subtle genre that sank deep down our recesses. He was like no other. He was unique in his voice, loaded in his lyrics and penetrating in wisdom.’ Adeniyi described Olaiya as a ‘music missionary sure to be outlived by his messages’.
To Ahmed Olaiya ‘is a legend who made late bloomers like me fall in love with highlife music. Having been born and raised in Kaduna, the closest to highlife was Bala Miller. Arriving in the south for my NYSC in my early 20s changed my taste in music with my introduction to Olaiya’s many songs in many languages and dialects. From Omo Pupa through Ilu Le O (Times Are Hard) to Ya Bonsa Sawale and many other pieces, Olaiya’s works not only enrich my taste in music, it also enriched me as a human being.” The psychiatrist recalled that there was no Ahmed’s family party without Victor Olaiya dance time. Highlife reminds of a period when music crossed borders and used all languages.
Olaiya was not a one-album musician. His works has passed through several generations without losing its appeal. AG Ebere, a pharmacologist based in Ottawa, Canada says he was not particularly versed in his music but that the Olaiya name was well known in musical circles, adding ‘he brought happiness to his country people through music.’
Ms Esho recalls being impacted by tracks like Mo Fe Muyan, a lurid track in which he appeals to be calmed by the mammary secretions of his lover. Other tracks she remembers include Aiye Soro a tune depicting the many battles of life and Soro Jeje Fun Arugbo calling for understanding and respect for the elderly. In Ewele Weku Ewele, Olaiya transforms a traditional folksong into a danceable beat garnished with his inimitable tenor.
Ms Esho’s compendium of Olaiya’s albums contains over 70 tracks of this legend’s work laced with videos of his riveting stage performance and a biography. In life, Olaiya did not feel alienated or threatened by the popularity of contemporary music. At 76 in an interview with Adeola Balogun, he proudly says succeeding musical genres have borrowed from highlife. Said he: “Every music in Nigeria borrows one thing or the other from highlife. Name it, Fuji, Juju, Afro juju, afro-anything, they all take one or two things from highlife.”
Olaiya’s death could have been the incineration of a musical library. But the advent of new media means his work would continue to inspire. He told Adeola Balogun that he would retire, ‘when the stars lose their glory, adding otherwise until the end of life story! That end came February 12, 2020.
Ahmed told me – I am sure the angels are having a ball since “the evil genius” arrived his permanent home with his horn on February 12, 2020. RIP Dr. Victor Olaiya.