Collins Oke Elaiho & His Odoligie Nobles

LISTEN: (Look at "Listen Tracks")


Our exploration of Bini music from Nigeria continues, but this time purchased close to home, in one of the numerous African stores hiding in the folds of our periphery, external to the capital.

There are many good reasons to write about Edo – or Bini – music, most important is because the Edo community is one of the most numerous represented amongst the Africans residing in Italy.

The second reason is due to the Benin Empire and it’s ancient civilization, the most complex and refined of the whole African continent, but at the same time about it’s history, richness and traditional culture there is little information found outside the specialized circuits. One of the reasons for Bini culture for being not known beyond the borders of the Edo State is due to the small dimensions of it’s diaspora, due to the fact that during the centuries the Benin Empire acted actively in order to limit the sale to the close Portuguese populations of it’s own people as slaves, and subsequently their transfer to a new world. It in fact seems that the physical markers; Iwu, who sign off the Bini ethny was represented by cuts on the faces and bodies, was instituted by Oba Ehengbuda – king warrior of Edo who lived in the XVI century – also with the aim of making the Bini recognizable to the slave merchants, so they knew what danger they were facing by buying them. The empire’s army and the population were encouraged to favor and organize the liberation of the Bini slaves who were still in African lands.

The Oba of Benin - print '800
But this and other ancient stories will be subject to further and future in depth writings. Here we only want to simply share fragments of music of one of the great Nigerian musicians of Bini ethnic who contributed to the extraordinary musical highlife scene during the 70ies, which was the period of African cultures and history which we will never celebrate enough. The musician is called Collins Oke Elaiho & His Odoligie Nobles.

The geographic position of Edo State – exactly halfway between Lagos and the great Yoruba cities west of the Delta of Niger, where the Igbo influence begins – allows their modern music to space into their traditional musical forms represented by long suites for voices and percussions, the highlife sonorities mixed together with the urban Lagos music, from juju to afro beat.

The genius of the modern Bini music is Sir Victor Uwaifo, who created an extraordinary synthesis between highlife, afro beat and traditional Edo rhythms which he called Ekassa. Thanks to his music today we have an idea, although vague, of the courts’ rhythms that were played during the imperial festivities starting from the palace of the Oba up to Benin City, and by the vocal compositions which told stories of people and explained a correct way of living, organized by a big tolerance around ancient harmonies.

About Collins Oke – one of his tracks is contained inside the first compilation of the Nigeria Special series by Soundway – we know he was a Bini star since the beginning of the 70ies, just soon after Victor Uwaifo, with whom he competed for art and fame. Uwaifo’s fans would say that Oke copied his Ekassa Sound, but notwithstanding the similarities it seems to us that Odoligie Nobles had all the numbers to propose brilliant music which was also originally played.


Collins Oke Elaiho
Two of Collins Oke’s records happened to end up in our hands. Produced by Supreme Disk of Benin City they are both of the beginning of the 80ies period. Yabomwen (originally Ekimogun Sounds, EKLP 138) is dated 82, while Oke’ 83 (SDP 044) dates the following year. In both those albums the line up is of the Nobles and it is the classic of the highlife band, made up of two guitars, bass, drums, two or three percussions and a wind section made up of saxophone, trumpet and naturally the solo voice of Oke and the choir.

But Oke’s sound cannot be defined highlife, notwithstanding its influence which is present is the light melodies of the guitar and the trumpet solos, which has always been the queen instrument of this genre both in Nigeria and Ghana. The grove that comes out is acid, due to the rough digitalization low-fi of the old vinyl, schizophrenic and exalted, a sort of afro beat dominated by the two guitar lines – the rhythmic and the tenor guitar– and by the voices of the high and uncertain registries of Oke, a sort of Nigerian Byrne – concentrated on the fascinating laments of a language full of vocals and sweet consonants slightly accented.

Those who know more than superficially Nigerian music can discover that Oke’s music is an original mix of the many musical trends of the country at that time, with its funk marked accents and a strong Bini imprint, especially in the singing and lyrics. For those who cannot distinguish the ingredients, the dirty music of the Nobles can sound anyway stimulating and the songs we propose here can be listened like a story, of people and of a past time but certainly not gone, as demonstrated by the fact that this music is sold and listened to by adults and young Nigerians today.


Listen Tracks
1. Yabomwen
2. Oubiobu
3. Odo-Oruyi
4. Nomiemila


Author: Collins Oke & His Odoligie Nobles
Title: Yabomwen
Year: 1982
Label: Ekimogun Sounds

Tracks:
1. Ken
2. Yabomwen
3. Eguo
4. Oubiobu
5. Omonomose


Author: Collins Oke-Elaiho
Title: Oke '83
Year: 1983
Label: Supreme Disk

Tracks:
1. Oririmu
2. Ubonakere
3. Odo-Oruyi
4. Nomiemila