Victor Olaiya

Early life and career

Olaiya was born on 31 December 1930, in Calabar, Cross River State, the 20th child of a family of 24. His parents, Alfred Omolona Olaiya and Bathsheba Owolabi Motajo, came from Ijesha-Ishu in Ekiti State. Olaiya came from a very rich family. His father's house called Ilọijọs Bar stood on 2 Bamgbose Street, Lagos Island, until it was demolished on September 11, 2016. At an early age he learned to play the Bombardon and the French Horn. After leaving school he moved to Lagos, where he passed the school certificate examination in 1951 and was accepted by Howard University, US, to study civil engineering. Olaiya instead pursued a career as a musician, to the disapproval of his parents. He played with the Sammy Akpabot Band, was leader and trumpeter for the Old Lagos City Orchestra and joined the Bobby Benson Jam Session Orchestra.

In 1954 Olaiya formed his own band, the Cool Cats, playing popular highlife music. His band was chosen to play at the state ball when Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom visited Nigeria in 1956, and later to play at the state balls when Nigeria became independent in 1960 and when Nigeria became a republic in 1963. On the latter occasion, Olaiya shared the stage with the American jazz musician Louis Armstrong. During the Nigerian Civil War of 1967–70, Olaiya was given the rank of a lieutenant colonel (honorary) in the Nigerian army and his band played for the troops at various locations. The Cool Cats later travelled to the Congo to perform for United Nations troops.

Olaiya renamed his band to the All Stars Band when they played the 1963 International Jazz Festival in Czechoslovakia.

Olaiya also ran a business that imported and distributed musical instruments and accessories throughout West Africa, and established the Stadium Hotel in Surulere.

In 1990, Olaiya received a fellowship of the Institute of Administrative Management of Nigeria. For a period, he was also president of the Nigerian Union of Musicians.

Personal life

Olaiya married many wives. He has children and grandchildren. One of his daughters, Moji Olaiya, was an actress who died in Canada on the 17th of May 2017 just two months after giving birth to her second child. He sings with his son Bayode Olaiya.

Music

Olaiya's music bridges between Ghanaian highlife and what would become Afrobeat.

His musical style was influenced by James Brown, with horn parts harmonised in Brown's style, as opposed to the mostly unison lines of Afrobeat. The music includes the swinging percussion of Tony Allen, but not the syncopated style that Allen later pioneered.

Olaiya released an album with Ghanaian highlife musician E. T. Mensah. Both the drummer Tony Allen and vocalist Fela Kuti played with Olaiya and went on to achieve individual success.

In July 2013, Victor Olaiya released a music video remix of Baby Jowo(Baby Mi Da)with 2face idibia and was received with much acclaim.

Discography

A partial list of albums

Late 1950s/Early 1960s Odale Ore b/w Mofe Muyon

1960s?                                 Catchy Rhythms from Nigeria – Vol. 2

1961                         Olaiya's Victories

Early 1960s                 Catchy Rhythms From Nigeria – Vol. 3

1960s                                 Afro-Rhythm Parade Vol. 2

1960s?                                Oruku Tiniditindi / Iye Jemila

1960s                                Pambotoriboto b/w Moonlight Highlife

1960s                                Feso J'aiye / Asian Udo

1960s                                Kosowo Lode b/w Ewelewekuewele

1960s                                Afro-Rhythm Parade Vol. 7

Late 1960s?                        West Africa's Big Sound

1982                                In the Sixties

1982                        Highlife Reincaration

1983                        Ilu Le O (Country Hard 0!)

1983                        African Music

1983                        Highlife Giants of Africa Vol. 1

1986                        Papingo Davalaya

2001?                               The Best of Dr. Victor Olaiya – 3 Decades of Highlife

2003?                                Highlife in The 80's – The Best of Dr. Victor Olaiya Vol. 2 – Evil Genius of Highlife

2002?                         High Life Kings Vol. 1

2002?                                 High Life Kings Vol. 2

2003                         The Rough Guide to Highlife

2003?                                The Kings of Highlife

2005                              Let Yourself Go/There Was a Time / Papa de Love

2009                                Victor Olaiya's All Stars Soul International

2012                               The Rough Guide To Psychedelic Africa