‘Yaba Evergreen Happy Hour’ – The Nation Newspaper

It was an unprecedented collaboration. Lagos-based Evergreen Musical Company, described as “Africa’s greatest custodian and producer of music of yesteryears,” and the authorities of the Yaba Local Council Development Area (LCDA), Lagos, organised Yaba Evergreen Happy Hour to promote live bands in the community and celebrate the music of notable Nigerian musicians, particularly in the highlife category. The event, held recently at Akinwunmi Centre, Yaba, marked the end of the year and boosted the month’s atmosphere of celebration.

Chairman Yaba LCDA, Kayode Omiyale, the event chair, welcomed guests to “the home of music.”  Interestingly, Yaba area is associated with the musical careers of giants like Sunny Ade, Fela Kuti, Ebenezer Obey, Roy Chicago, Adeolu Akisanya, Victor Olaiya, Orlando Owoh, and Bobby Benson, who used to play regularly at popular clubs located in Yaba and its environs.

The Royal Bell Band and MFM Band supplied evergreen highlife melodies, much to the delight of the guests. Artistes Kofo Wonder, Pedro Agidigbo, Lady Julie and Omileyan spiced up the event with their performances.

It was also a time for recognition and reward for two distinguished musicians, who received awards and cash gifts. Omiyale presented the Evergreen Musical Company Lifetime Achievement Award to Segun Adewale, a veteran Juju musician, and Yinka Davies, a multi-genre performer.  Adewale said the honour would make him “work more.” The master of ceremonies, Yemi Sodimu, a well-known thespian, described Davies as “an exciting package of entertainment.”  She showed her stuff.

 The Chairman/CEO of the musical company, Femi Esho, and his daughter, who is its managing director, Bimbo Esho were at the centre of the show. The Evergreen boss, who is in his 70s, has been described as “the undisputed largest collector of music of yesteryears with over 150,000 vinyl plates made up of 78rpm breakable plates, 45rpm and 33rpm, hundreds of reel-to-reel tapes, thousands of cassette tapes of various music along with archival materials such as His Master’s Voice (HMV), various reel-to-reel machines, various turntables with the oldest 100 years old, books and newspaper articles on Nigerian music, video recordings of early Nigerian music icons.” The company also has a band that is known for its rich highlife repertoire. 

The ‘Yaba Evergreen Happy Hour’ showed that there is a lot of room for cultural collaboration between the company and culture-friendly entities in the public and private sectors.