{"id":109448,"date":"2022-06-10T15:58:50","date_gmt":"2022-06-10T13:58:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pan-african-music.com\/oriental-brothers\/"},"modified":"2022-06-29T11:16:20","modified_gmt":"2022-06-29T09:16:20","slug":"oriental-brothers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/pan-african-music.com\/en\/oriental-brothers\/","title":{"rendered":"Oriental Brothers: celebrating 50 years with a new record!"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"has-drop-cap\"><br>Listening to <em>O Ku Ngwo Di Ochi <\/em>(the palm wine tapper), the new album by the Oriental Brothers International Band, is like stepping back in time. We find ourselves in the era that followed the terrible Biafran war which, from 1967 to 1970, decimated the lives of more than a million people in eastern Nigeria. While this trauma has never completely faded from people\u2019s minds and the ghosts of secessionists still regularly haunt the news, the sound of this group\u2019s Igbo-style highlife (the Igbo being the main ethnic group in south-eastern Nigeria) resolutely embodies the spirit of celebration and optimism that the return of peace made possible.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Their particular sound, which draws on natural rhythms and weaves in incredible melodic layers thanks to its 5 guitars (4 plus a bass), has been respected in the production of this new record, which has managed to retain the authenticity of the band\u2019s seminal years \u2013 the 70s and 80s. This was the period when the band, founded by Dan Satch Opara, released most of its records (the first one being in 1973). Some of their albums, through the miracles and mysterious circulations that linked the shores of the \u2018Black Atlantic\u2019, would end up 20 years later on the turntables of the <em>picos<\/em>, the sound systems in northern Colombia and also the land of choice for the <em>champeta<\/em>, the magical melting pot within which African music was recycled to make hits for \u2018Africolombia\u2019.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The name is one particularly adored by Lucas Silva, the founder of Palenque records. He discovered the Oriental Brothers International Band thanks to the sound systems of Cartagena and, remixed in a Colombian style, their songs became <em>champeta<\/em> hits, renamed \u201cLa Pijama De Mi Abuelo\u201d, and \u201cEchale Agua A La Moto\u201d. When Silva found out that the Orchestra still existed, with its founding father at the helm, he didn\u2019t waste any time getting in touch.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:50px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<iframe title=\"Oriental Brothers International Band (Nigeria)Documentary Part 1,  New album with Palenque Records\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" data-src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/w8MRTKxe3hg?start=131&#038;feature=oembed&#038;autoplay=1\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n<\/div><figcaption>Oriental Brothers International Band (Nigeria) in Studio, recording New album with Palenque Records<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:25px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"500\" height=\"500\" src=\"https:\/\/pan-african-music-production.fra1.digitaloceanspaces.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/Oriental-brothers-2.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-108371\" srcset=\"https:\/\/pan-african-music-production.fra1.digitaloceanspaces.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/Oriental-brothers-2.jpg 500w, https:\/\/pan-african-music-production.fra1.digitaloceanspaces.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/Oriental-brothers-2-100x100.jpg 100w, https:\/\/pan-african-music-production.fra1.digitaloceanspaces.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/Oriental-brothers-2-465x465.jpg 465w, https:\/\/pan-african-music-production.fra1.digitaloceanspaces.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/Oriental-brothers-2-375x375.jpg 375w, https:\/\/pan-african-music-production.fra1.digitaloceanspaces.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/Oriental-brothers-2-200x200.jpg 200w, https:\/\/pan-african-music-production.fra1.digitaloceanspaces.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/Oriental-brothers-2-85x85.jpg 85w, https:\/\/pan-african-music-production.fra1.digitaloceanspaces.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/Oriental-brothers-2-73x73.jpg 73w\" sizes=\"(min-width:1010px) 759px,100vw\" loading=\"lazy\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:50px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n<h5 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong><em><strong><em>Three brothers and five fingers<\/em><\/strong><\/em><\/strong><\/h5>\n\n\n\n<p>Ferdinand Dan Satch Chukuemueka Opara was still there, where he had always been, in his town of Owerri, situated halfway between Port-Harcourt and Onitsha. It is to him that we owe the group\u2019s founding as well as its ongoing existence. Since the Band\u2019s formation, in 1973, Satch has never stopped playing. Despite the infighting and the schisms that weakened the group during the 70s, and guitarist Kabaka and singer Sir Warrior leaving to form their own bands, he kept playing. Although the three brothers would cross paths again, they were never quite as united as they had been in that first, pioneering Band to which Satch was the key.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In forming the group, Satch had gone against his parents\u2019 advice. He promised that if things didn\u2019t work out he would return to his steady job as a car mechanic. He never went back to the garage \u2013 once he\u2019d formed the nucleus of the first band he took the musicians to Kano (the big city in North Nigeria) on tour. But the promoter, as it turned out, had made false promises. To make up for it, Satch took the band to Lagos, where he was sure he could find them a good place in a club. After a few gigs work dried up and the band found themselves in difficulty again. Everyone wanted to get back East but no one had any money. Satch vowed to come up with a plan to earn them enough money to pay for their return journey home. They ended up taking up residence in Ikeja, in one of the small hotels in the area, where they hosted parties. This lead to them recording their first album which was released on Afrodisia, one of Decca\u2019s labels. Satch chose the name Oriental Brothers in reference to their region of origin and the magical trio of three brothers who lead the group (himself, Kabaka and Sir Warrior) and who had put in most of the work.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:50px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"540\" height=\"540\" src=\"https:\/\/pan-african-music-production.fra1.digitaloceanspaces.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/Oriental-brothers-3.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-108372\" srcset=\"https:\/\/pan-african-music-production.fra1.digitaloceanspaces.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/Oriental-brothers-3.jpg 540w, https:\/\/pan-african-music-production.fra1.digitaloceanspaces.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/Oriental-brothers-3-100x100.jpg 100w, https:\/\/pan-african-music-production.fra1.digitaloceanspaces.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/Oriental-brothers-3-465x465.jpg 465w, https:\/\/pan-african-music-production.fra1.digitaloceanspaces.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/Oriental-brothers-3-375x375.jpg 375w, https:\/\/pan-african-music-production.fra1.digitaloceanspaces.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/Oriental-brothers-3-200x200.jpg 200w, https:\/\/pan-african-music-production.fra1.digitaloceanspaces.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/Oriental-brothers-3-85x85.jpg 85w, https:\/\/pan-african-music-production.fra1.digitaloceanspaces.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/Oriental-brothers-3-73x73.jpg 73w\" sizes=\"(min-width:1010px) 759px,100vw\" loading=\"lazy\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:50px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n<h5 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Triumphs and tribulations<\/strong><\/h5>\n\n\n\n<p>The next four years were the golden years, and the band had so many successful songs that an appetite for leadership took over, inviting discord within the group. Kabaka in particular, a virtuoso guitarist, no longer enjoyed being put forward as the leader of the band (see cover below) when it was actually Satch who was in charge. In 1977, he was the first to leave to form his own group, soon followed by Sir Warrior, who would become the big star of Igbo highlife. Satch had an inkling of this separation when, according to him, he composed \u201cEbele onye uwa\u201d, a song that tells of <em>\u2018how people conspire to break up a band when they don\u2019t like its success\u2019<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The main trio only came together again twice in the studio (in 1987 and 1996) before Sir Warrior died in 1999. As for Godwin \u2018Kabaka\u2019 Opara, he\u2019s still with us, living very modestly in his village. Palenque Records reissued one of his best records a few weeks ago. As for Satch, although he has managed to keep the Orchestra going (and still plays with percussionist Aquila, much like in the early days of the group) he laments having been forgotten by his country and, in particular, by the government. He feels that the joy brought by the Orchestra after many terrible years of war has never been properly acknowledged. This criticism could already be understood in the song \u201c<a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=1XK0cSOBS2I&amp;ab_channel=groovemonzter\" target=\"_blank\">Iheoma Adighi Onye Oso<\/a>\u201d, which recalled that while all the civil servants received the \u2018Udoji bonus\u2019 to increase their salaries, the Oriental Brothers, who did so much for post-war harmony, remained ignored, without any proper recompense in sight.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:50px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<iframe title=\"Oriental Brothers International Band - Live in Owerri Nigeria 2022 - New album with Palenque Records\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" data-src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/aQOWNBaESds?feature=oembed&#038;autoplay=1\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n<\/div><figcaption>Oriental Brothers International Band &#8211; Live in Owerri Nigeria 2022 &#8211; New album with Palenque Records<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:25px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p>Lucas Silva hasn\u2019t yet made it to Owerri \u2013 given the security situation in Imo State, and in the south and east of Nigeria in general \u2013 but he has nevertheless managed, with the help of his Nigerian partners (such as Odogwu Entertainment), to bring Satch and his Oriental Brothers back into the studio for five tracks which, as their leader assures us, \u2018<em>are capable of curing high blood pressure and can even&#8230;raise the dead<\/em>\u2019. For the dead, it\u2019s a bit early to say, but for the rest, it\u2019s certain that Oriental-style highlife is the best remedy for crises and gloom.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Listen to <em><a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/palenquerecords.bandcamp.com\/album\/oriental-brothers-international-band-nigeria-oku-ngwo-di-ochi\" target=\"_blank\">O Ku Ngwo Di Ochi<\/a><\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:50px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"1010\" height=\"1010\" src=\"https:\/\/pan-african-music-production.fra1.digitaloceanspaces.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/Oriental-brothers-album-1010x1010.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-109450\" srcset=\"https:\/\/pan-african-music-production.fra1.digitaloceanspaces.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/Oriental-brothers-album-1010x1010.jpg 1010w, https:\/\/pan-african-music-production.fra1.digitaloceanspaces.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/Oriental-brothers-album-759x759.jpg 759w, https:\/\/pan-african-music-production.fra1.digitaloceanspaces.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/Oriental-brothers-album-100x100.jpg 100w, https:\/\/pan-african-music-production.fra1.digitaloceanspaces.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/Oriental-brothers-album-661x661.jpg 661w, https:\/\/pan-african-music-production.fra1.digitaloceanspaces.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/Oriental-brothers-album-465x465.jpg 465w, https:\/\/pan-african-music-production.fra1.digitaloceanspaces.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/Oriental-brothers-album-375x375.jpg 375w, https:\/\/pan-african-music-production.fra1.digitaloceanspaces.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/Oriental-brothers-album-200x200.jpg 200w, https:\/\/pan-african-music-production.fra1.digitaloceanspaces.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/Oriental-brothers-album-85x85.jpg 85w, https:\/\/pan-african-music-production.fra1.digitaloceanspaces.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/Oriental-brothers-album-73x73.jpg 73w, https:\/\/pan-african-music-production.fra1.digitaloceanspaces.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/Oriental-brothers-album.jpg 1200w\" sizes=\"(min-width:1010px) 759px,100vw\" loading=\"lazy\" \/><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Owing to the tenacity of their leader, Dan Satch, and the label Palenque Records, 50 years after their first album the famous Igbo highlife orchestra from eastern Nigeria is back with a new record.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":108370,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[7833],"tags":[5431,40967],"location":[8172],"yst_prominent_words":[12233,38648,28850],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/pan-african-music.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/109448"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/pan-african-music.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/pan-african-music.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pan-african-music.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pan-african-music.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=109448"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/pan-african-music.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/109448\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pan-african-music.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/108370"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/pan-african-music.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=109448"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pan-african-music.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=109448"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pan-african-music.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=109448"},{"taxonomy":"location","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pan-african-music.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/location?post=109448"},{"taxonomy":"yst_prominent_words","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pan-african-music.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/yst_prominent_words?post=109448"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}