Life with Orlando Julius fun, he taught me a lot – Latoya Aduke

The wife of late highlife maestro and jazz saxophonist, Orlando Julius, Latoya Aduke Julius says she learnt a lot in life from her late husband. What started as music partnership blossomed into a marriage that became a benchmark for the young ones.

ORJI ONYEKWERE spoke to American born Latoya Aduke.

What projects are you working on presently?

I used to perform in the United States of America before I met Orlando Julius and I have been singing and doing my own thing. People think that because I am his wife, I sing. No, he hired me as a professional singer and dancer in 1990. Till this 2024, I am still performing and I am working on opening the Orlando Julius Afro House of Highlife.

It’s a studio, it has always been Orlando’s desire and we have always wanted to build a well-equipped recording and video studio, rehearsal hall and a music school in Ijebu Ijesha, Osun State. I am going to open the studio on the 21st of April. It’s going to be a place for retreat for artists and a music school for creatives.

Is this part of sustaining his legacy as you mentioned last year, when they were commemorating his one year anniversary?

Definitely, it’s a whole foundation and it’s called the Orlando Julius Afro House of Highlife, OJAHH. Orlando Julius did workshops in schools and universities in America. He also was a member of AIM 4 The Heart headed by Leila Steinberg. We will go to inner city schools and highbrow schools and take Music to them.

That’s why he knows the importance of giving children music’ and arts in schools. It helps their development and to understand other cultures. Leila Steinberg who is now President of GALA Music, a new platform for Music and Arts, where artistes are in control of their own royalties from streaming,etc.

Ever since he came back home in 1998, he has always taught global music in schools, both public and private schools. So, when we were building the studio in Ijebu Ijesha, where we have landed property because everything cannot be in Lagos, we were traveling a lot and touring; putting the money into this project.

After his demise, I suspended the project for a while just to get my head clear and later I had to complete it. So, it’s part of his legacy and people will come from everywhere to pay homage to Orlando Julius because he has done a lot for the music industry.

Orlando Julius played different musical instruments like drum, flute, saxophone and a lot others, but you can’t say that for today’s artistes.

Yes, because they are not musicians but performing artistes. Notwithstanding, most musicians today can play more than one instrument. I did not know that Orlando played keyboard so well until I came back to Nigeria. They have to install some instruments for Orlando to play the keyboard, they have the percussion, he played the sax and sang and danced as well.

So, the school is also going to train them in handling musical instruments?

Exactly, our objective is to do theory and practical. I will select students of music in College of Education, Ilesha and also the university. Some of the students that know music will come and teach theory and they will learn how to play keyboard, that is how you learn how to write music. I will get teachers of music from different places not just Ilesha University.

I remember those days you don’t go to University to learn music because it’s a natural thing, you give them instruments and the discipline and they will play it.

Are you going to do a remix of any of his popular songs like ‘Jaguar Nana or Ololufe’, or is there going to be a collaboration with any of these young artistes to reproduce his songs?

He didn’t reach out to anybody for collaboration but if any artiste wanted to collaborate with him, they did. He can collaborate. We also have some unreleased songs of Orlando for the tribute album. Together, I am working on a full documentary and a musical biography documentary. There’s so much to do to keep his legacy moving.

I’m going to be doing more tributes for Orlando but not just in Nigeria because he is loved around the world. There have been invitations from Berlin to come and perform. His music is going to be played all the time everywhere and I am glad that his legacy continues and even I, his wife, don’t do anything; trust the music creative community because Orland was dear to them and he affected a lot of lives.

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I cannot rush just like I did not rush to do a tribute in Lagos. I was in mourning, why would I want to rush to Lagos to do tribute for him. They did the tribute and if anybody really cared for Orlando, they will come which is why a lot of his friends participated. Tee Mac, Yinka Davies, Dede Mabiaku, and Beautiful Nubia who just lost his mother that period, were all there. The creative community turned Orlando’s funeral to a carnival, even his enemies had to attend his funeral.

You commented about COSON, not fulfilling their obligations. What exactly is the issue?

You heard when I said even his enemies attended his funeral. We released the Heliocentric Jayiede Afro. COSON gave the Hill company permission to use a song from that album that was just released by an international company. They used 45 seconds of the song, Buje buje. We were in Krakow Poland, when we got news of copyright infringement of Orlando’s song “Buje Buje”.

Orlando was doing the WOMAD Festival in Poland at that time, when we got a call from our record label and he was asking us what was all this we released.

We told him we didn’t know anything about that and then OJ said he was not a member of COSON, so why would COSON use his music without permission. If COSON had called OJ and said, we have so and so, what do you think because it’s the same song from the previous album in the 60S, he could have given it to them.

I was in Poland when Bernice, a lady that works for COSON called and said she wanted Orlando Julius’ account number and I said why, she said royalties. I said royalties from COSON but OJ is not a member of COSON.

Then, I thought maybe because Orlando did the song ‘Ololufemi’ with Seyi Shay, Efe Omoregbe was the producer and anything he did for OJ, he made sure Orlando gets paid. So, I assumed it was from that. When Bernice called, she did not tell me it was a licencing agreement, she said it’s royalties and I assumed it was from Efe, from the song Seyi Shay did with OJ.

So, it was the song ‘Ololufe’?

No. They used the song Buje Buje. They used it for the movie, Fifty, by Ebony Life. They were not aware of the infringement. That is why I don’t have an issue with them. We did not know what was going on because we were touring.

How did COSON come into this?

They used the music without Orlando’s recording company’s permission. When Bernice called, I told her this was not right and she called back with Tony Okoroji and he spoke with Orlando. Orlando asked him, ‘my brother, why do this without my permission? And Tony said are you a member of COSON, we could do this and that. Orlando said, he is not a member of COSON and ‘even if I was a member of COSON, you could have called me before you use my music’.

Pa Ajilo who started PMRS telling me to be patient that it will be sorted out and it never got done and I even hired a lawyer. They play Orlando’s music all the time in Nigeria and around the world.

Did you communicate your grievance to COSON?

Yes. Our attorney did that, at a point they became friends and you know this Nigerian thing. They have to pay back those royalties, the money and that of the record label… even a little apologies because they messed with Orlando’s dignity. We could have done another album after that album because it sold very well, it became number 13 on the UK Top Chart

Next month April, will be the second anniversary of his death, what other things do you have, lined up, apart from the ones you reeled out earlier?

We will start with a thanksgiving in the church on April 14, the following week, we will open the OJAHH House. I don’t have everything complete in the building but I need to open it so that people will know what’s going on.

You toured a lot of countries with Pa Orlando, can you remember that particular tour that gave you goose pimples because of the reception or the embarrassment?

I will tell you one of my favourite time out of so many. What amazed me is that the first time we went out on tour, the Sydney tour, we have to do 25 songs in 28 days, and it was in the month of February. We did shows back to back, OJ was a warrior. By the time we got back to Nigeria, it was like, did we do that? During tour season, everywhere we go the reception for Orlando was tremendous.

One festival I will never forget was in Marseille, France and it was only Orlando and Tony Allen. By the time we got there Tony was on stage and when he got off stage, he did not head for his dressing room but came straight to look for Orlando. The show he did was phenomenal. They talked, they hugged themselves and laughed together. That night was great.

When we came on stage, we thought Tony has left but he stayed behind. He said he could not leave because it was almost a decade since he saw his brother perform. His brother was performing. It was a wonderful night, he and Orlando and it was about Nigerian movies, his old photos of Nollywood films – Hubert Ogunde and all that. The place was crowded with people enjoying the moment. I will never forget that experience

The next time was the Berlin Jazz Festival and we were doing the song ‘Ashiko’, by the time he opened his eyes; he was looking at Tony Allen smiling at him. Anytime they hook up, it’s always wonderful. We had some great time especially with some of his colleagues and the energy he had was just super. He was a humble guy.

I met him in the USA, we toured everywhere before we came back to Nigeria to settle. Everything we did was on our own without sponsorship, the TV shows we did, everything on our own. It was so stressful for someone who was his age but he was a champion and I am so grateful to work with him because I learnt a lot.

You have been here for a long time. What’s that thing about Africa particular Nigerians that you love so much?

I was born in 1960 in the USA. My mum was a nurse and she changed doctors. She did not tell me till I was 35 years old that the doctor that delivered me was a tall African man from West Africa with tiger marks on his face. His name is Dr Owolabi Orlando Omoseni. I had my first child when I was young, I was 16. When I turned 17, I was living in California and I was working taking care of my baby. Later, I met this prominent Nigerian musician named Baba Ambrose Campbell and that was how I met Orlando.

The first time I met Orlando, I was just 18 and he just did ‘Back to my Roots’. I met him at Ambrose Campbell’s house with Remy Kabaka. I just answered the door and there he was. 12 years later, I have lived life, I got married, gave birth to children and got divorced. By then, I was a sound engineer because I went to school to study audio engineering.

By the time I finished school, Orlando’s friend I knew was at a party and he asked me, ‘do you remember my friend OJ and I said yes,’ then he told me that OJ was looking for a dancer. I was at OJ’s house at Oakland a week later and I performed and danced because I am a good dancer. I am not being amorous, I worked with him for about two years before anything like that. It’s a long story, it’s musical and beautiful.

Nigeria is great country. A lot of people keep complaining about the country but Orlando never complained about Nigeria. He never did. When you get to the airport, they will say, ‘don’t fly to Nigeria, it’s not good but he will say no, my country is good. He never said anything bad about Nigeria. If he never believed in Nigeria, why would he leave everything over there and decide to come back here. We were together for eight years over there before relocating back to Nigeria. I went home to the US for a year, but I couldn’t wait to get back to Nigeria.

Really! Were you missing the amala and ewedu soup?

I missed the amala, eba, ogbono, egusi, banga and a whole lot of them.

Which of his songs is your favourite?

One of my favourite is ‘Jaiyede Afro’ because of the way it was formulated which is also the title of his album because it took him back to his childhood and motivated his music. It shows his uniqueness, his care and love for women and mothers. He has always respected the women. It’s hard to say, however my favourite highlife is ‘Waka Lole’ (Come go home with me).

Nubia came to do a live concert in our compound and I got a chance to sing the song ‘Waka Lole’ for Orlando, my own version and ‘Back to my Roots’. I did not know he was the one that gave them the African music ‘Back to my Roots, that it’s Urhobo music until I was at Lagbaja’s concert where he performed the song, that was in 1998 when we first came home. He came with OJ and I said what’s he doing with OJ, they said he is the one that did the song and I said what!

He gave you the name Aduke, what is that special thing about him that always brings smile on your face anytime you remember him?

He was loving, kind, gentle and sincere. Even if he was not this great musician, his character alone… he had this unspoken passion, he didn’t have to say it. He was different and he let me to be me. He didn’t say because he is African, I got to talk like this or do this. He was a teacher that will not teach you, you have to learn from him and he was so sensitive.