Re: USA Africa Dialogue Series - Ramadan Blue: From Were to Fuji, Dr.Sikiru Ayinde Barrister.

TF:

This is interesting!  You could not have grown up in Ibadan in the 60s and 70s with its large indigenous Muslim population without noticing the importance of  Wėré music particularly during Ramadan.

Some of our house helps, particularly those with Ilorin connections used to laud the excitement of the music stamping their feet on the floor as they chant and extolling the virtues of previous Ajíwéré musicians.  

Im sure the late Akin Euba did some work on this in Bayreuth under indigenous religious music.  I can still recall the call in those days:

' E dìde ę mü sàrè ję

Àbę o nî gbàwę ni?

Wake up and fortify yourself.

Dont you recognise its fasting season?

Its interesting to trace the evolution of Wákà and Fújì music from this source, particularly Wákà.

OAA

Sent from my Samsung Galaxy smartphone.

-------- Original message --------

From: Toyin Falola <toyinfalola@austin.utexas.edu>

Date: 28/04/2020 11:11 (GMT+00:00)

To: dialogue <USAAfricaDialogue@googlegroups.com>, Yoruba Affairs <yorubaaffairs@googlegroups.com>

Subject: USA Africa Dialogue Series - Ramadan Blue: From Were to Fuji, Dr.Sikiru  Ayinde Barrister.

This message is eligible for Automatic Cleanup! (toyinfalola@austin.utexas.edu) Add cleanup rule | More info

Dr. Sikiru Ayinde Barrister and I did exactly the same thing as teenagers. We would wake up in the middle of the night to sing around the city waking people up to pray and prepare ramadan meals. We called it "were" music, basically chanting, with one drum and sekere. I was the sekere man, and a lead chanter.  You needed a minimum of three people, but more boys is better for voice power. As boys would always fight over dividing the proceeds, the bigger the team, the bigger the fight, but hours later, no one would remember any fight. Parents were split over what their kids should do, and many opted for crafts and apprenticeship, while only a few went to secondary schools. I went to school but also learnt masonry.  Then the Civil War came, and most of my age-mates were recruited into a hurriedly built army both on Biafra and the so-called Federal side. Just walk to Mokola, say you are 18, and that would be the last time that your parents would see you. Sikiru, my dear brother, joined the army on the federal side (I hate this "federal" label!), and began our art in the army. He later left the army and became a full-time musician, becoming the preeminent Fuji star, the definer of a new genre. Unparalleled, unmatched, peerless, he and Kollington Ayinla were bitter competitors…..more later. A transformational figure, I will ask him some hard questions in the next world.

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=413KJ-Hm9ek

 

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bU3UIByb1XA

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bV_fuGJ0xEA

 

 

--
Listserv moderated by Toyin Falola, University of Texas at Austin
To post to this group, send an email to USAAfricaDialogue@googlegroups.com
To subscribe to this group, send an email to USAAfricaDialogue+subscribe@googlegroups.com
Current archives at http://groups.google.com/group/USAAfricaDialogue
Early archives at http://www.utexas.edu/conferences/africa/ads/index.html
---
You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "USA Africa Dialogue Series" group.
To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to usaafricadialogue+unsubscribe@googlegroups.com.
To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/usaafricadialogue/0A16DAD2-1312-47C4-A309-44BA875A090F%40austin.utexas.edu.