Photo by Ayoola Salako on Unsplash
The Legacy of Musicians of Nigerian descent in the UK’s music eco-system
By Juwon Ogungbe
In 1914, Lord Lugard – a British colonial administrator, oversaw the birth of the West African nation now known as Nigeria. As the most populous Black African nation on Earth, Nigeria has a vast and diverse range of ethnicities and heritages within her boundaries. Music makers of Nigerian descent have been involved in impactful interactions with their British counterparts over many decades. This feature focuses on British-Nigerian and Nigerian musicians who have drawn inspiration from Nigerian performing arts traditions in their creative output. These artists have made notable contributions to the musical synergy between Nigeria and Britain.
In 1925, Canon J.J. Ransome-Kuti became the first Nigerian musician to have a record released, on Zonophone Records. In keeping with his calling as an Anglican clergyman, Kuti composed and sang Christian hymns on the recording, which was recorded in London. Kuti’s descendants include Wole Soyinka (renowned writer who is also known to make music recordings), Fela Anikulapo-Kuti, Femi Kuti, Seun Kuti and Made Kuti – all internationally famous musicians.
View this post on Instagram
Another man called Fela arrived in the UK from Nigeria to study music, in 1934. Fela Sowande – a highly versatile musician, was a pioneer on several fronts. As a Church musician, he was the organist and music director of a leading Cathedral in London, but he also moonlighted on the jazz and pop music scenes of the time, as an accompanist to reputable singers such as Adelaide Hall and Dame Vera Lynn. Sowande made a significant impact as a composer of orchestral music. In 1944, he composed his best-known piece – The African Suite for Strings. His Church music compositions deftly combined influences from Western classical music with African music genres. Sowande turned to broadcasting, thereby presenting a series on the forerunner of the BBC World Service that focused on African music and accessibility. The programmes were recorded in English and Yoruba – Sowande’s mother tongue.
Fela Sowande is now regarded by musicologists as the father figure of Nigerian Art (or Classical) Music. His career as a composer seemed to reach its zenith when he lived in the UK in the 1940s and ‘50s. At the end of the 1950s, he returned to Nigeria to work as a broadcaster and academic, but soon became disillusioned with the teething problems that emerged out of the handover from colonial administrators to indigenous political leaders around the time of Nigeria’s independence from Britain.
View this post on Instagram
Sowande’s Folk Symphony was commissioned to be performed during the official independence ceremonial sequence of events. Sadly, a suitable set of musicians couldn’t be found to perform the work at the allotted time, so the Symphony was premiered by the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra in 1964. It has been reported that the composer eventually conducted a performance of the piece by the New York Philharmonic Orchestra.
Ambrose Campbell – a hugely influential figure in the popular culture, arrived in Britain during World War 2. Campbell is widely credited for forming and leading Britain’s first ever Black Band – The West African Rhythm Brothers, which featured African and Caribbean musicians. Fela Kuti described Campbell – a gifted singer and composer, as ‘the father of Nigerian modern music’.
Campbell’s band performed in the VE Day celebrations at the end of World War 2 – in Trafalgar Square and Piccadilly Circus. Quoting him directly about the experience, he said ‘We had a huge crowd following us around Piccadilly Circus. You could hardly move.
The West African Rhythm Brothers performed in a long residency at The Abalabi Club (in Soho’s Berwick Street Market) and on British television. Ambrose Campbell fraternised with leading British jazz musicians, including Tubby Hayes and Ronnie Scott.
Colin MacInnes – an author, immortalised Campbell as a character in City of Spades – the first in a trilogy of novels that painted a vivid picture of the lives of African and Caribbean Londoners of the 1950s. The Abalabi Club moved to more upmarket premises in Wardour Street and Campbell formed a new band to perform there.
After moving to the USA to work with Leon Russell – an American musician, Ambrose Campbell eventually returned to Britain, choosing to end his days living in Plymouth.
Ginger Johnson was another pioneering figure, for introducing West African rhythmic flair into the British pop music scene. Initially known as the lead percussionist in the Latin Jazz dance band led by Edmundo Ros, Johnson was soon performing with emerging Rock and Pop musicians of the 1960s, such as Georgie Fame and Elton John. Ginger Johnson and His African Messengers was a group of drummers who eventually played a major role in providing a backbeat to the sounds of London in the Swinging ‘60s. Members of the group became regular sidemen in bands such as Traffic, Osibisa and The Rolling Stones.
Johnson’s African Messengers performed as the opening act in a historic Rolling Stones concert in Hyde Park, presented shortly after the demise of Brian Jones – a founder member of The Stones.
Meanwhile, Ginger Baker – drummer in Cream – Rock’s first supergroup, was attracted to the rhythms he heard from Nigerian musicians. Baker invited Fela Ransome-Kuti, The Lijadu Sisters, Loughty Amao and others to join various permutations of his passion project – Ginger Baker’s Airforce. Baker’s appetite was whetted to the extent that he spent some time in Lagos, Nigeria, doing some professional development work, collaborating with Fela on Africa 70 recordings, and even building a recording studio – ARC Studios, in Ikeja, Lagos State.
Such was Ginger Baker’s profile in the business of that era that he attracted Paul McCartney to make a trip to Lagos with Wings. The recording of ‘Band on the Run’ – the most commercially successful Wings album to date, was kick started in ARC Studios.
In a separate development, it has been widely reported that McCartney was inspired by Jimmy Scott – a London based Nigerian musician whose nickname was ‘Obladi, Oblada’ to create the immortal hook line and catchphrase of one of the last global hits by The Beatles, before they split up in 1970.
The 1970s and the aftermath of the Nigerian Civil War ushered in a new generation of Nigerian musicians based in London, including Jake Sollo. A gifted lead guitarist and bandleader, he left his Nigerian colleagues in a band called The Funkees, to form his own band, crafting an exciting new sound in the process. He was invited to join Osibisa as the lead guitarist, as was Mike Odumosu of BLO – another influential Afro-rock band of the era. Osibisa made a remarkable impact representing the UK in Festac – the 2nd World Festival of Black Arts and Culture, presented in Lagos in 1977. Jake Sollo was the lead guitarist and Mike Odumosu was the bassist in those performances.
Following in the footsteps of Ginger Johnson, Gaspar Lawal formed his Africa Oro Band in the late 1970s/early 1980s. Comprising mainly of drummers, the Africa Oro Band was highly visible on the festival circuit, performing in the first ever WOMAD Festival. Drummers who were nurtured in this ensemble include Lekan Babalola who runs the Ifa Contemporary Arts Trust in Birmingham and Sola Akingbola – a key member of Jamiroquai – a well-known pop group. I performed in Gaspar Lawal’s band as a very young musician.
Gaspar was a key figure in the group of musicians of African and Caribbean descent who set up the B.M.A – the Black Music Association, to act as advocates for the rights of Black musicians in the British music business of that era.
Juju music became the beautiful new bride of the record business in London when King Sunny Ade was signed to Island Records in the 1980s. Traces of the genre’s influence were heard in the sounds of creatively ambitious pop music acts such as Tears for Fears.
Meanwhile a new generation of Afrobeat musicians emerged around the same time, including Bukky Leo and Dele Sosimi.
Bukky Leo dabbled in several other musical genres, including Ska and Acid Jazz before returning to Afrobeat. Dele Sosimi – more of an Afrobeat purist, chose to devote his energies to leading an Afrobeat Orchestra. Sosimi was also a musical consultant for the ‘Fela!’ Broadway show – presented for a while in the Royal National Theatre, London.
Tony Allen, the esteemed drummer who played the drum kit on many of Fela Kuti’s most memorable recordings, became a super session musician and band leader in the UK, collaborating with Brit Pop stars such as Damon Albarn of Blur.
A key player on the London scene in the years just before the pandemic, Biyi Adepegba of Joyful Noise has laid down an illustrious legacy in initiating the London African Music Festival – a forum that has led the way in consciousness raising and the cross fertilisation of African musical genres, involving musicians from a wide range of diverse heritages. Adepegba also managed a roster of acts, including The Master Drummers of Africa, Yoruba Women’s Choir, South African Gospel Singers, South African Jazz All Stars, Township Express, and a group led by yours truly – The Vocal Ensemble of Africa.
One member of The Vocal Ensemble of Africa – Eno Williams, left the ensemble to form her own group – Ibibio Sound Machine, who have made a notable impact on the international festival touring circuit.
The Pentecostal Church music sector in London bustles with the energy of musicians of Nigerian descent. Long gone are the days when Christian music was only of the ‘Songs of Praise’ or American Gospel variety. Nowadays, the Churches are thronging with musicians steeped in Nigerian music traditions. The ‘Gbedu sensibility’ is fully integrated into praise and worship music. One of the leading exponents of this genre is Muyiwa (Muyiwa Olanrewaju) – an award-winning recording artist.
Classical musicians and scholars have kept the torch lit by Fela Sowande burning. Akin Euba – composer and ethnomusicologist, was based in the USA in the latter part of his career and life, but he came to England frequently to organise and present conferences at Churchill College, Cambridge. Composition in Africa and the Diaspora symposia attracted musicians, scholars, composers, and singers from all over the world, where they performed concerts, presented papers, and networked extensively. I was a participant in several of those memorable events.
Nowadays, the work is being continued by the African Concert Series, led by Rebeca Omordia – a concert pianist of Romanian-Nigerian heritage.
Sowande’s music is often included in the concert programming of orchestras, ensembles, and music festivals such as the BBC Proms.
The Education sector has also benefitted from the presence of Nigeria musicians, including Sunshine Ogunde (one of the pioneers), Emmanuel Josiah, Norris Johnson (Ginger Johnson’s eldest son), Osun Arts (based in Liverpool and led by Oladimeji Adisa and of course, Iroko Theatre Company, led by Alex Oma-Pius. These musicians have taught thousands of young people about the inner workings of drum poly rhythms and African songs.
Most of the key players in this narrative happen to be male. A notable female contribution to the British-Nigerian cultural synergy is the Yoruba Women’s Choir (led by Funmi Olawumi). This group has toured up and down the UK, performing to packed houses, with their head ties looking like ‘stately galleons’, to quote one reviewer.
In recent times, the Mercury Music Prize of 2023 was awarded to The Ezra Collective – a group of young musicians from diverse heritages, but seemingly led by British Nigerians. The group’s music is classified as Jazz, but the few YouTube clips I have watched and listened to clearly display influences from Fela Kuti’s sound and look.
From Canon J.J. Ransome-Kuti through to The Ezra Collective, these musicians have introduced influences and flavours from Nigerian music genres into British music.
Please note: The Mercury Music Prize of 2022 was awarded to Little Simz – a female British-Nigerian emcee/rapper.
Notable British Nigerians who have made an impact in other music genres include the following:
Grime
JME, Skepta, Dizzie Rascal (Nigerian-Ghanaian British), Ms Banks, KSI, Enny, Little Simz, Santan, Dave, Tinie Tempah.
Classical
Chi-Chi Nwanoku, Tunde Jegede, April Koyejo-Audiger.
Reggae
Jean Adebambo, Sylvia Tella.
Mainstream Pop
Labi Siffre, Lemar Obika, Patti Boulaye, Pauline Black, David McAlmont, Kele Okereke, Taio Cruz, Oritse Williams, Seal, Sade, Ruti Olajugbagbe, Tunde Baiyewu, and Dame Shirley Bassey.
