Album Review: Tunji Oyelana - A Nigerian Retrospective: 1966-79

12 February 2013 | 11:34 am | Bob Baker Fish

If you’re ready to move beyond the cult of Kuti, into a more complex and frequently surprising yet highly funky realm, then Oyelana is the man for you.

Sure he looks freakishly like Bernie Mac from Oceans Eleven, but Nigerian Tunji Oyelana is one of the lesser-known artists who were creating compelling and idiosyncratic music in Lagos in the late '60s and '70s. In the west, the imposing spectre of Afrobeat pioneer Fela Kuti tends to obscure the work of pretty much every other Nigerian artist, yet in the last decade a number of compilations have highlighted that there was a lot more really good music being made during this golden period. 

Oyelana has appeared on a couple of Strut and Soundway collections, but this double CD collection really demonstrates the diversity of an artist, who was equally skilled at afro funk, juju, reggae, highlife, afro rock and of course Afrobeat. Oyelana was a singer-songwriter, actor, comedian and academic, and this kind of relentless diversity comes across in his music which refuses to be pigeonholed. In fact, it was this point that gave rise to the name of his backing band The Benders, due to their ability to blend and bend musical styles. His Afrobeat was on peer with Kuti, urgent and energetic, yet where Kuit was overtly political, Oyelana was more ethereal, utilising traditional Yoruba folklore as a source of inspiration. Yet for Oyelana, Afrobeat was only the beginning; he refused to be limited, he wanted to do everything. What's remarkable is the consistency and quality of the music, not to mention that it's taken this long for his music to be appreciated in the west

If you're ready to move beyond the cult of Kuti, into a more complex and frequently surprising yet highly funky realm, then Oyelana is the man for you.