This Sunday afternoon (1st day of Pesach and Palm Sunday in the Christian calendar) now that I intuit the nature of the problem, my sincere apologies to music connoisseur Lord Agbetuyi for having spoken in haste with special emphasis on the tail-end of his comment which was "the deleterious effect on the sophistication of his music" and if I understand Lord Agbetuyi correctly, also possibly the deterioration or degeneration that thenceforth occurred "in the Chief Commander's lyrics" In essence I understand you to be saying that Chief Commander's earlier uninhibited exuberance in the juju music has now been considerably chained or "tamed" by the Holy Spirit
In his own defence Chief Commander could righteously explain that in praise of God he is singing higher lyrics, just like Shulem!
And, was Duke Ellington's Sacred Music less musical because it was sacred? What about Pharoah Sanders? Alice Coltrane? Carlos Santana ? McCoy Tyner? Herbie Hancock? Bheki Mseleku? Abdullah Ibrahim ? John Coltrane himself, to name just a few? And what about all that great Gospel Music - did it diminish Aretha Franklin or Marvin Gaye ?
But of course it's our Chief Commander Ebenezer Obey Fan Club that you're talking about and when it comes to the Yoruba rhythms and lyrics, I concede, you know better. Much better. So far, apart from his " What God has joined together" I have not listened to any of his evangelical evergreens. It's only today that I have restarted my listening, chronologically and such is his prodigious output that I pray and hope I should have got to his latest by 18th April, so that I too will know what I'm talking about. ( for me it's mostly the instrumental music that counts, the vocals too of course not so much the meanings in the Lingala, the Mandinka, the Wolof , the Twi, the Igbo, the Haitian Creole and the Yoruba lyrics )
There is a long list of musicians not even listed here who gave their life to Jesus and still continued to Make a joyful noise unto the LORD, I have in mind Debaba, of course King Sunny Ade, marvellous Ghanaian-Brit Caleb Quaye ex-Hookfoot , a host of others, but chiefly Bob Dylan who for a while gave his life to Jesus - thereby sending shock-waves throughout the Jewish nation, but in his case - and here I'm a real connoisseur without his music really shuffering a degeneration , the only difference being that his lyrics were more Gospel inspired and less iconoclastic as we can here in his "Slow Train Coming " and " Saved" just around the time my fanatical Igbo and Ikwerre Brethren almost drowned me not by the Rivers of Babylon, but in that river in Umuahia.
I thought I sent this yesterday but found it in my draft box
Wonderful!
Odùduwà a gbe Ojogbon Faleye. Ifá yio se amònà obìrìn męta. Yèyé gbédè gbęyò yio şe atókùn, yío mójó ró.
( Odùduwà will enkindle Dr. Fálęyę. Ifá will guide her aright. The Primal Linguist will provide guidance and she will take charge of the day's proceedings.)
I hope Dr. Fálęyę will be able to probe incisively the nexus of traditional ( particularly Ifá) religion and Christianity in the Chief Commander's lyrics on our behalf, especially the syncretism that propelled him to full blown Christian ministry and the deleterious effect on the sophistication of his music, to the chagrin of music lovers and industry alike.
OAA
Sent from my Galaxy
-------- Original message --------From: Toyin Falola <toyin...@austin.utexas.edu>Date: 26/03/2021 11:48 (GMT+00:00)To: dialogue <usaafric...@googlegroups.com>, Yoruba Affairs <yoruba...@googlegroups.com>, Yoruba Affairs <yorubaaffa...@googlegroups.com>Subject: USA Africa Dialogue Series - Dr. ADEOLA FALEYE, DISTINGUISHED POET,TO INTERVIEW EBENEZER OBEY ON APRIL 18, 2021
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Dr. ADEOLA FALEYE, DISTINGUISHED POET, SINGER, SCHOLAR, AND NOLLYWOOD ARTIST TO INTERVIEW EBENEZER OBEY ON APRIL 18, 2021
Sunday, April 18, 2021
5:00 PM GMT+1 (Nigeria Time)
11:00 AM US CST (Austin Time)Register here
https://www.tfinterviews.com/post/chief-obey
Adéọlá Adijat Fálẹ́yẹ graduated with a First Class (B. A. Hons) in Yorùbá Language and Literature. She won the Ọbáfẹ́mi Awólọ́wọ̀ University Faculty of Arts' award as the "Best Overall Graduating Student" of her set (1997/1998), along with many other outstanding academic awards. She acquired her Masters' and doctorate degrees from the University of Ìbàdàn, Nigeria (2005 and 2015). She earlier worked as the Yorùbá Editor with the Oxford-affiliated University Press PLC in Ìbàdàn (1999-2002). She is a Fellow of the AHP/American Council of Learned Scholars (2012). She is a Senior Lecturer at the Department of Linguistics and African Languages, Faculty of Arts of Ọbáfẹ́mi Awólọ́wọ̀ University, Ilé-Ifẹ̀, Nigeria. Adéọlá Fálẹ́yẹ is a celebrated poet, renowned actress, and a published performer. Some of the national and international film and stage play productions she has featured in include: Lápé in Agogo Èèwọ̀ of Mainframe Productions; Ìyálọ́jà in Ikú Olókùn Ẹsin of Akínwùnmí Ìsọ̀lá's translated play, and Olóhùn-Iyọ̀ in Wọlé Ṣóyínka's Death and the Kings' Horseman. To her credits also are eight audio Oríkì albums: Tótó Ọba, Ìbàdàn Ọmọ Ajorosùn, Ẹ máa tú yagba, Jẹ́ ká gbáyé pẹ́, Mo ń Bọ́ba Rèhà, Onínúure Lọ (2009-2018). She has several published journal articles, chapters in books, and published creative works showcasing her area of specialization, which is Oral Literature, Culture and Performance Studies. Her published poems and books include Ìlù, Èjọ́ Èmi náà kọ́, Ọ̀rọ̀ Kàǹkà in Kíké Olóbùró (2003), Trends in African Oral Literature, Creative Writings and Contemporary Society (2018), her edited works are Ìwé Kíkà Àsìkò (2007) and Ìwé Mímọ́ Ifá: Ẹ̀sìn Àkọ́dá Olódùmarè (2019) which is a compilation of Ifá corpus, and a very detailed text for researchers and learners.
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