ONYE KATA OBIA (vinyl)

Description

For casual fans of Nigerian music, the term "Igbo highlife" immediately brings to mind a few names: internationally renowned stars like Chief Stephen Osita Osadebe, Celestine Ukwu, Oliver De Coque, and The Oriental Brothers. More dedicated fans of the genre will surely mention less acclaimed, but still extremely influential, musicians such as The Ikenga Super Stars, Mike Ejeagha, or Goddy Ezike. True aficionados, however, can passionately discuss someone like Franco Lee Ezute, and his role as an icon of the style's dynamic revival in the 1970s and 80s. To add to the discussion, purists might argue that Ezute and his contemporaries (King Ubulu, Ali Chukwuma, Rogana Ottah, Bob Fred, Mmadu Osa International Band, etc.) don't truly sing in Igbo, and even if they use elements of Igbo culture, their music cannot technically be called Igbo highlife, but rather Anioma sound. It is a particularly exciting event to re-release this album in a magnificent remastered edition that will bring the music of this master to a new audience, and perhaps, we hope, spark an interest in the exhilarating Ukwuani sound of the 70s and 80s. If you are listening to this music for the first time, you are in for a treat.