Victor Uwaifo
| Prof. Sir Victor Uwaifo | |
|---|---|
| Born | 1 March 1941 (age 75) Benin City, Nigeria |
| Genres | highlife |
| Instruments | Electric guitar, Flute, Saxophone, Electric Piano ,Percussions, Vocals |
| Years active | 1960s onwards |
| Labels | Hypertek Digital, 960 Music Group |
| Associated acts | Victor Olaiya's Cool Cats, the Melody Maestros |
| Notable instruments | |
| guitar | |
Prof. Sir Victor Uwaifo (MON) (born 1 March 1941) is a Nigerian musician, writer, sculptor, and musical instrument inventor. He also served as commissioner for arts and culture in Edo State under the government of Lucky Igbinedion. Uwaifo is famous for his joromi music. He records under the name Sir Victor Uwaifo.
His best-known songs, "Guitar Boy" and "Mami Water", were a huge hit in 1966. "Mami Water" was inspired by an encounter (which he has long maintained actually occurred) with a "mami water" (mermaid) while lounging on Bar Beach, Lagos.
Victor Efosa Uwaifo was born in Benin City, Edo State, Nigeria, and obtained his secondary school education at the Western Boys' High School Benin and St Gregory's College, Lagos, in the years 1957–61. He began playing guitar when he was 12 years old, his earliest popular music influences deriving from listening to records of Spanish and Latin American music. He studied graphics at Yaba College of Technology, Lagos and graduated in 1961–63. He received a bachelor's degree with first-class honours and a master's degree from the University of Benin in 1994, where he studied fine and applied arts and majored in sculpture.
After leaving Benin, Uwaifo continued playing music at St Gregory's, Lagos, a contemporary of Segun Bucknor, both individuals were among the leading Lagos high school bandleaders. During school holidays and weekends, he jammed with Olaiya's All Stars band. After completing secondary school studies, he played with E.C. Arinze's highlife during late hours. Uwaifo also briefly worked with Stephen Osadebe and Fred Coker before he formed Melody Maestros in 1965. The band released Joromi which became a huge hit in Nigeria and other parts of West Africa. Between 1965 and 1968, he developed the Akwete rhythm sound. In 1969, he launched a new beat called Shadow accompanied by a new dance also called shadow, a mixture of Akwete and twist. The sound was released when soul music was popular in Lagos and lasted a few years. After the launch of Shadow, the Melody Maestros went on tour of various Nigerian cities. Uwaifo later experimented with a new rhythm that was similar to soul but soon left it for Ekassa, an interpretation of a traditional Benin sound.
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