Popular Nigerian Saxophonist, Orlando Julius has died, aged 79.
His wife, Latoya Ekemode, confirmed his death to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Friday in Lagos.
Latoya said, “Yes, my husband passed on late last night (Thursday), there was no indication that death was coming, he was not ill, he only slept and died in his sleep.”
Who is Orlando Julius?
Orlando Julius Aremu Olusanya Ekemode, known professionally as Orlando Julius or Orlando Julius Ekemode (1943 – 14 April 2022) was a Nigerian saxophonist, singer, bandleader, and songwriter closely associated with Afrobeat music.
He was born in 1943 in Ikole, Ekiti.
He went to St. Peter’s Anglican School in Ikole and played in the school band. In 1957, after dropping out of school and the death of his father, he left for Ibadan to pursue a career as a musician. His first music teacher was his mother, who would sing and dance while he played the drums.
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In 1960, Eddie Okonta invited Julius to join his band. Okonta was one of the most popular highlife acts in Nigeria, and together they recorded several songs, performed many gigs, and even opened for Louis Armstrong.
Julius had his first hit in 1965 with the song “Jagua Nana”, going on tour around West Africa after the success of the song. Julius fused traditional African sounds and rhythms with those of American pop, soul, and R&B.
His 1966 work, Super Afro Soul, incorporated soul, pop, and funk, made him a national celebrity in Nigeria and even went so far as to influence music in the United States. Some say that Super Afro Soul helped shape the funk movement that swept over the United States in subsequent years.
The Guardian says in a 2016 article:
Orlando Julius came from Nigeria and had a solid grounding in many African musical styles and cultures, but he was also a true internationalist. Orlando remains a prodigiously talented musician, as his recent album Jaiyede Afro, recorded with London based spiritual jazz/Afro funk orchestra the Heliocentrics proves.
The Guardian‘s Robin Denselow that Julius is “one of the heroes of Nigerian music”, a “master of the simple, stomping riff” with a significant influence on afrobeat music.
Modern Ghana considered him “the last of Nigeria’s titans in the highlife music genre”.
On Spotify:
Few artists have been more crucial to the invention, development, and popularization of Afro-pop than Orlando Julius.
Some of his musical albums were:
- Disco Hi-Life
- Ololufe, Love
- Peace and Happiness
- Dance Afrobeat and more
