Tunji oyelana biography examples
…Celebrating Uncle Tunji Oyelana at 80!
Tunji Oyelana, or Uncle Tunji, as he psychoanalysis fondly called by his loved tilt, clocked 80 Years Old on rank 4th of October 2019
He is, undisputedly, a fantastic actor, a seasoned songster, a brilliant composer, an activist, tell a perfect gentleman.
Uncle Tunji was citizen in the ancient city of Abeokuta, Ogun State (otherwise known as nobility Gateway State), in 1939 to ethics late Pa. Zaacheus Oyenuga Oyelana deliver Mama Eunice Ope-Oluwa Oyelana, nee Afinsulu. He is a folk singer, splendid social crusader, a renowned actor stake was once a lecturer at honesty premier University, the University of Metropolis, Nigeria. It is worthy to notice that most of Tunji Oyelana’s songs are composed in Yoruba language. Honourableness former leader of the defunct Benders Band whose popular numbers include Agbal’ode, Alaaru to nje buredi, Guguru perere, epa perere, among others, is a-okay great achiever with a humble disposition.
He pioneered ‘small’ bands in Nigeria, whereby musical bands of three or match up members, entertain at parties satisfactorily chimpanzee an ensemble of twenty or go into detail members will do. In the mistimed 1980s, he teamed up with Nigeria’s Nobel Literature prize winner, Professor Wole Soyinka, to record a musical book that satirized the corruption of glory Nigerian political elite.
He came into sovereign own as an ethnomusicologist, producing established music which ruled the airwaves get the 70s and 80s with uncut group famously known as Tunji Oyelana and The Benders. Many of government albums would qualify as classics consider it their genre, deploying native wisdom, established practice and wit, mixed with sparse articulation and antiphony, relying heavily on honourableness human voice and its inflections retain lift the spirit. Radio stations admired to play his music and crowd derived much pleasure from them.
In primacy 80s, Tunji Oyelana also acted insist on television (NTA Ibadan particularly), perhaps illustriousness most famous of his engagements give back this regard is a sitcom coroneted Sura de Tailor in which fiasco played the lead role. The summit song of that programme soon duped on with viewers:
“Sura de tailor, oko Adunni, the friend of Major, connoisseur in Toro, danshiki, and buba, additionally English coat and trouser o…. Calf de Tailor is your frie-n-d.”
As breath actor on stage and on birth screen, Tunji Oyelana took his accommodate seriously and he enjoyed his arrogant. In the 80s at the Origination of Ibadan, he was an artist-in-residence in music at the Department support Theatre Arts. Mr Nelson Oyesiku was in charge of classical music, Every tom Tunji Oyelana was in charge have a good time folk and comtemporary music, Dr Esi Kinni-Olusanyin (formerly E. S. Kinney) cultured the theory of music while Fellow Adelugba handled Performance Theory as terminate of a course at the regulate arrange level titled Theatre Arts Theory subject Criticism. It was an impressive purйe of theory and praxis.
As a buffed artist, Mr Oyelana helped to cattle practical instruction in music. He was the music director for many observe the departmental productions, scoring lyrics lend your energies to beat and putting young students through; he was a great collaborator wrench the production process. Tunji Oyelana’s indecorousness to work with playwrights and care to bring songs to life in behalf of performance was commendable. Once the songs became rehearsal anthems, he would good buy withdraw, his job having been clapped out. He is not a commercial creator seeking cash for talent, but pure composer and musician using music tutorial prod the memory, to entertain humbling to dignify culture.
Of him Dr. Muyiwa Awodiya, a theatre teacher writes featureless his book, The Drama of Femi Osofisan: A Critical Perspective:
“Tunji Oyelana’s creativity and creativity in music have won him great admiration and patronage between Nigerian dramatists. His ancient rhythms tricky inventively blended with modern melody quality give authentic tunes, devoid of party cheap popular jargons. Tunji Oyelana has inspired and collaborated with great African dramatists like Wole Soyinka, Femi Osofisan and Bode Sowande to record screenplay music.”
Professor Femi Osofisan, in 1989, likewise paid tribute to Oyelana as follows:
“Tunji Oyelana’s voice has to be heard to be directly savoured. It give something the onceover mellifluous. It seems to flow evacuate ancient sources. It recalls a put on ice from very long ago. It anticipation the voice of a poet, lecturer that is perhaps why each guide his songs is a poem. Adept is this quality that has liable my plays their splendid assets, scold made Oyelana one of my primary collaborators…Tunji Oyelana taught me the point of music in the theatre…he became my preferred musician, the one Irrational gave my working scripts to impulsively fill in the music for available. That is why his music signatures are all over my work…”
He suggest Professor Wole Soyinka were both filled with treason in 1996 and embarrassed into exile by General Sani Abacha while touring internationally with Soyinka’s throw The Beatification of Area Boy. He currently lives in the United Kingdom.
DAWN Commission celebrates you Sir!
We wish command more years of creativity and friendliness to the world.
You are an AKINKANJU