Bogobiri House in conjunction with New Age Productions will celebrate Duro Ikujenyo’s 60th birthday with a concert on September 2 from 6pm to midnight.
To feature the launch of a new album by the musician titled, ‘‘Tribute to the Masters’’, his band, Age of Aquarius, will be on hand when musicians like Scatter Vibration, Ire the Divine, Seun Olota and Show Boy celebrate their own in song and dance. Also to feature are Lanre Edun, King Willi and P-nero.
Ikujenyo, the brain behind New Age Productions, told TheNiche that it was a concert not to be missed and that it would take place at Bogobiri House, Ikoyi.
Since undergoing tutelage under Afrobeat king, Fela Anikulapo-Kuti, Ikujenyo has continued to be innovative and has not stopped performing. Completely pan-African in his music and thinking, he only recently launched a newly built one and half Octave (20 Keys), Agidigbo Thumb Piano.
The Agidigbo, which is 24ches by 24 inches by 9inches, he had said at the launch recently, is one of the biggest in the country.
A prince from Ijebu Mushin in Ogun State, he was born Durotimi Babatunde S.0 Ikujenyo on September 2, 1956, the fourth of seven children. He is a musician, band leader and producer, who started singing at the age of three and became a chorister in his father’s choir and distinguished himself by winning the best singing prize three times between 1959 and 1970.
He attended various schools between 1962 and 1974, St. Luke’s Primary School, Jos; St. Johns College, Jos; St. Paul’s (Kufena) College, Zaria and CMS Grammar School, Lagos.
Found his career in music after high school. Between 1974 and 1978 studied music conducted by Royal Music Board in London under the tutelage of music instructor, Kobina Crepy teacher of some of the most popular musicians in Nigeria like Fela Anikulapo-Kuti, Segun Bucknor, Victor Uwaifor and a host of others.
Ikujenyo sings, reads, writes and harmonises four part vocal music and plays the piano. He studied popular music that includes jazz, Afrobeat, and highlife music. Joined Fela’s Egypt 80 band in 1979 after following Fela to the famous Berlin Jazz Festival in 1978.
He formed his band in 1985, which he said, was based on philosophy of change in the cosmic trend that has developed human discovery space age from the age of Pisces to Aquarius. He believes through a divine experience while playing in Fela’s band in June 1981 that new age of Aquarius moved the world into the global peace, harmony and ends all forms of oppression, poverty, exploitation especially in developing world.
