Duro Ikujenyo
Duro Ikujenyo
Genres: world, All, afrobeat, african
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About Duro Ikujenyo
Duro Ikujenyo's Age of Aquarius "THE music itself is changing. Even whites are playing African music. Japanese bands are playing Afrobeat. Music is changing. Music is now a weapon for creating awareness, and bringing Africa back to its former glory." This was the submission of the foremost keyboardist and Jazz Hole Records producer, Duro Ikujenyo on the rational behind the release of Ase, a beautifully packaged CD whose production, no doubt, matches international standard. To underscore the significance and importance of this album, Duro, who is quite pleased with the recording, provided answer to the question instantly and rattled away into the circumstances that led to this all-important release. "I started recording with Jazz Hole a year before Fela died. I did not release any album until 10 years after, last October when I recorded a tribute to Fela at 70. "This is my second album which I am releasing. It is my first original work in my 30 years of professional music playing and has taken us ten years to put together. I started in 1999 - This is the tenth year." First, the contract with Jazz Hole must have expired after ten years, Duro, who is perhaps the hardest working artist in Nigeria today, had a lot of ups and downs, which militated against the release of the recording. In between sessions, he had an eye operation, which slowed him down, necessitated the emergence as an intervention by Jimi Solanke and Keziah Jones for the remixing of Surulere and Oriki Olorun for release by MTN and Sheneki. Perhaps the blow that actually shook him during the recording was the death of his father, which happened at a time that he had no money to perform the burial ceremonies. And, as if these calamities were not tough enough, he had a terrible car accident where one of the passengers died on the spot. Duro himself almost lost an arm. Considering the harrowing experience Duro underwent in the course of the recording, he has every reason to celebrate the fact that at the end, he has been able to come out of the studio with a sound identity and quality that are fulfilling as well as pleasing. Duro Ikujenyo is particularly happy that he has come out in 'live' recording form as opposed to programmed sessions, which do not give your recording the natural flair. He got the artistes together in 2005 and finished in 2006 in the studio. Asked what is special about Ase, Duro replied, "Ase in Yoruba means, let it be - the end of a prayer where you say, Amen. In our tradition, when you pray, you end up with Ase." The success of the album may pretty well be the answer to his prayers after all the calamities that tried to prevent the music from being recorded. As for the music, "most of the negro spirituals was the blues. The song is an inspiration from Fela in terms of the groove and structure. It is hope for the future." This is about the third time that I am having a close encounter with Duro Ikujenyo who is always ready to talk about music, its dynamics and essence. Each time I asked him about the significance of 'Age of Aquarius' and its meaning as it relates to his music, he has always left me more confused than ever before. This is how he explained it this time: "When we were very young, we experienced a lot of trance -uncontrolled change - a brief change which was like a diversion. I believe that the moon and stars control the magnetism of the body. This is the space age. Many things have changed including the air power of communication." I still find it difficult to relate this explanation to the significance of this name as that of his musical outfit. But one thing that is easily recognisable is the fact that Duro Ikujenyo's music is adventurous, bordering sometimes on the avant garde. And that is why he has continued to stand out as one of the greatest musicians around. When he arranges for a simple melody, his interpretation often changes the predictable concept in terms of chord progressions where, like Thelonius Monk or Cecil Taylor, he comes up with dischords that help to deconstruct the songs without destroying them. It is this unusual approach that one finds intriguing in this CD of 13 tracks where his singing, melodic inventiveness and keyboard sounds border on the 'modal' even though his own individual songs lack co-ordination, definition and articulation for concrete meaning and melodic themes. But of course, there are such flash points as Oriki Olorun, Anikiyin, Dada, Alo, which have potentials for winning awards Jazz Hole has released quite a number of CDs since Ede Gidi, the experimental session that paved the way for subsequent outings, but since Ede Gidi, Kayode Olajide's Once upon a time, and perhaps Ibadan where saxophonist 'Heavy Wind' Adeniji made a cultural statement, Ase ranks high as the next album in line. As a matter of fact, in terms of production and packaging, it is a CD for global consumption. The bit that gives it away as a locally recorded session is the lack of tonal finesse by the harmonisation of the horns together. If this were to be tidier and cleaner the album would be competing for a 'grammy.' Notwithstanding, the CD has more to recommend than detract from it. The liner notes are very well laid out and put together that they are immediately attractive for easy reading. The songs have been treated with descriptions that immediately explain their meanings to the remotest foreigner who has a smattering of English. A keyboardist of no mean feat, Duro was influenced by the philosophies of his former band leader and Afrobeat legend, Fela Anikulapo Kuti, and became involved with the politics of confrontation fuelled by protest music. He was conspicuously involved in Young African Pioneers (YAP), a politically motivated group that served as a pressure outfit. He was also a researcher, and one of the founding members of Fela's Movement of the People (MOP). Duro Ikuyenyo's approach to Afrobeat is lose and fluid, with rhythms flowing outwards and inwards without the definitive patterns that characterise Fela's approach. He is succeeding like Femi because, despite the profound and overwhelming influence Fela has wielded on the emerging Afrobeat culture, he is attempting to find an individual path for himself rather than remain silhouetted in the shadow of Fela. Duro Ikunjeyo's association with Fela is yielding him many fruitful results musically and ideologically. He has learnt that music is spiritual and that it should not be used essentially to make money, but mainly for spiritual and artistic fulfilment. He live in Kalakuta Republic where it all happened, teaching music and recording on some of Fela's popular albums such as Unknown Soldier, Original Suffer Head, Coffing for Head of State, ITT, Authority Stealing, Power Show, Paramblator, Africa Center of the World among others. Ase is obviously his first major release for Jazz Hole. But as one of Jazz Hole's top recording stars, who is also the in-house producer, he has tracks on numerous album compilations such as Nu Afrobeat Experience issued by Shanachie Records, E go Beta, E go Happen produced by Jazz Hole, Play as You Go, a compilation sponsored by MTN and Vibration compiled in France by Universal Records.
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