Ime Akpan
Legendary high life musician, Prof Sir Victor Uwaifo, has died.
He was aged 80.
His nephew, Uwaifo Peter The Rock, broke the news on his verified Facebook page on Saturday evening.
Uwaifo Jnr, who is a gospel artiste and multi-instrumentalist, wrote:
“Daddy whyyyyyyyyyy. Did you leave us now
Prof sir Victor UWAIFO has gone to rest
Black Saturday for me now.
One week now after collaborating with me.”
He, however, did not disclose the cause of his death.
The deceased who celebrated his 80th birthday last March, featured in a track titled “Hallelujah” of his son’s upcoming album about a week ago.
The Guitar Boy as he was fondly called was born on March 1 1941, in Edo State.
He was a musician, writer, sculptor, and musical instrument inventor, University lecturer and the first commissioner for arts, culture and tourism in Nigeria.
He was the winner of the first gold disc in Africa (Joromi) released in 1965 and seven other gold discs in Guitar boy, Arabade, Ekassa series and Akwete music.
He recorded under the name Victor Uwaifo and His TItibitis. He was recognized as the most educated performing music legend, musical instrument inventor, and artist worldwide with a B.A Honors (first class valedictorian), Masters degree and PhD in Architectural Sculpture ((Thesis: A reinvention of Benin Royal Ancestral Pieces, University of Benin, Nigeria)
He obtained his secondary school education at the Western Boys’ High School Benin and St Gregory’s College, Lagos, from 1957 to 1961.
He began playing guitar when he was 12 years old, his earliest popular music influences being records of Spanish and Latin American music.
He studied graphics at Yaba College of Technology, Lagos and graduated in 1961–63 at the age of 22 years old.
The late musician received a bachelor’s degree with first-class honours at 54 years old (Valedictorian) and a master’s degree from the University of Benin in 1997 at 56 where he studied Fine and Applied Arts and majored in Sculpture.
After leaving Benin, Uwaifo continued playing music at St Gregory’s, Lagos.
He was a contemporary of Segun Bucknor, and they were both among the leading Lagos high school bandleaders at the time. During school holidays and weekends, he jammed with Olaiya’s All Stars band
He formed The Melody Maestros in 1965. The band released “Joromi” which became a hit in Nigeria and other parts of West Africa.
Uwaifo made history in Nigeria when he won the first Golden record in Nigeria, West Africa and Africa (presented by Philips, West Africa) for his song “Joromi” in 1996.
Between 1965 and 1968, he developed the Akwete rhythm sound. In 1969, he launched a new beat called Shadow accompanied by a new dance also called shadow, a mixture of Akwete and twist. The sound was released when soul music was popular in Lagos and lasted a few years. After the launch of Shadow, the Melody Maestros went on tour of various Nigerian cities. Uwaifo later experimented with a new rhythm that was similar to soul but soon left it for Ekassa, an interpretation of a traditional Benin sound.
In 1971, Uwaifo opened the Joromi Hotel in Benin City, and within ten years established his own television studio. From there, he produced a national weekly music and culture programme.
Uwaifo, who had a total of 12 golden records to date, travelled to many countries including the United States, Russia, Japan, United Kingdom, Bulgaria, Romania, Germany, France, Hungary, Rome, Ghana, Côte d’Ivoire, Togo, Benin Republic, Spain, and Canada.
With Wikipaedia report
