Zeal Onyia

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Zeal Onyia ( 1934 - April 29, 2000 ) was a Nigerian trumpeter and band leader of jazz and highlife .

Live and act

Zeal Onyia began in the late 1940s, even during his school days in Lagos , in Bobby Benson's legendary Jam Session Orchestra to play. In 1954, during a tour to Ghana, he left the band in Accra , where he founded the Rhythm Aces band with Spike Anyankor and worked with ET Mensah in The Tempos . In 1955 he moved from training grounds to London, where he Traditional Jazz played before with the West African Rhythm Brothers of Ambrose Campbell worked. After returning to Nigeria in 1957, he founded his own orchestra, but also played with Eddie Okonta and led the Nigerian All Star Band with Victor Olaiya in 1960 , before founding the Afro Jazz Band in 1962 .

Onyia had hits like Egwu Jazz bu Egwu Igbo (1958), Vicky yem Afum'u'o, Dibia A'buro Chukwu and Odiasi , which were released by Decca West Africa Records. In 1961 he met the trumpeter Louis Armstrong on his tour through Nigeria and remained friends with him until his death in 1971.

Although he was then mainly active as a trade unionist, he became one of the most popular trumpeters of the highlife era in West Africa in the 1960s and 1970s. In 1964 he published the single Money Trouble - Lumumba , dedicated to Patrice Lumumba, who was murdered in 1961 . In 1966 he traveled to Europe again to study classical trumpet with Adolf Scherbaum .

In the 1970s Onyia made a trip to the United States, where he played with Freddie Hubbard . In 1977 he released his album Zeal Onyia Returns . From 1977 to 1984 he was employed as the music director of the foreign department of the Nigerian Broadcasting Corporation .

Discographic notes

  • Zeals Message (Philips; 1976)
  • Zeal Rides Again (Tabanasi)

Web links

See also

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Obituary at Glendora Review 2000 (PDF; 877 kB)
  2. ↑ a b c G. Ewen's Africa O-Ye! A Celebration of African Music London 1991, p. 98
  3. ↑ a b c Obituary at Ntama - Journal of African Music and Popular Culture
  4. ↑ Matt Yanchyshyn: Bennlox - The Highlife Turntable ( Memento of the original from July 11, 2010 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / bennloxo.com
  5. ^ Stearns Guide to Contemporary African Music London 1989, p. 56
personal data
SURNAME Onyia, Zeal
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Nigerian jazz and highlife musician
DATE OF BIRTH 1934
DATE OF DEATH April 29, 2000