Most musicians get their first opportunity to perform from the church. That is the story of Emmanuel Oluwafemi Ayodele a.k.a. Jaya, who is into Afrojazz and has a 13-piece band called Epistles of Jaya.
The son of a pastor, who said his stage name stands for Justice Against Your Adversary, told TheNiche that until he gained admission into the Obafemi Awolowo University (OAU), Ile Ife, he was doing music in the dark.
“When I got admission into OAU, I started playing the saxophone and my mentality changed about music. I started seeing musical notes and all that. They were like magic to me at first and I said, so I was actually playing music in the dark,” he said.
Jaya explained that back then he was even playing the guitar by rote.
“I could play the guitar, but when you ask me, ‘what key are you holding?’ I couldn’t say,” said the former R&B artiste whose debut single titled ‘Woman Palava’ is due out soon.
Confessing that he has no girlfriend, considering the energy he exerts on his musical instrument of choice, the saxophone, Jaya said the song is based on his shy nature and hence difficulty in relating with the opposite sex.
“I’m a very shy person in terms of going after a lady. I find it very hard, so it is like okay we have guys. I feel that when you want to chat up a lady, it is like wahala (trouble). Okay, fine, I’m liking this girl and your head is like dis girl na palava for your head,” explained the musician who majored in composition and performance.
In these days when musicians shamelessly ad-lib to their own music, Jaya has a band owing to the kind of music he plays, which is Afrojazz.
“It requires a lot of people to come together and produce that kind of sound to make it what I really want to bring out,” he offered by way of explanation.
But how easy is it to even run a band?
“It is very difficult, I must say,” he confesses. “And that is one of the challenges that is actually pulling me back. To control a 13-man band is not easy.”
Jaya, who has played at the Lagos International Jazz Festival in the past but didn’t perform at this year’s edition, said ‘Felabration’ (celebration of the late Afro-beat king, Fela Anikulapo Kuti) is definitely on the cards this year.
Apart from that, he said he is working hard on his album.
Asked if his music is anything like what Fela played, and his response is: “The kind of music they produced then is very different from what we have now. Any musician who wants to sound like musicians from the old days won’t make headway now. It involves a lot of creativity to get people’s attention in in this age. So I would say that it is different because my kind of tempo is fast and jazzy.”
Rocking an Afro hairstyle, he demystified the fear that such trend is difficult to maintain.
“I’m used to it. It is like my identity and it is not hard to keep,” he stated.
Even before Jaya got admission to OAU to do music, he said he had been into music, which he played with a group then called the Black Knights.
“It was like an R&B group and we did more of the slows, blues and all that. Suddenly, one left and it was just the two of us. Along the line, we played shows. Then White House was still open and we would go there to play. We would pay N500 to perform just (to create) awareness. But in the long run, I just had to study music,” he recalled.
Much like paying Alaba (International Market) to list a newly released single on compilations, lending credence to the fact that ‘payola’ has always been in the industry.
“We paid to perform then at the White House when Asha, a rapper, was handling the programme there. If you wanted to perform as an up-and-coming artiste, you would pay N500 and write your name down. It was crazy,” Jaya emphasised.
Hopefully, he would begin to reap the fruit of his labour in music anytime soon.
