Four years after the passing of Nigerian Afrobeat legend Orlando Julius Ekemode, his widow and fellow musician Latoya Ekemode is planning a series of international tribute concerts to honour his life and music, and to raise funds for a documentary chronicling his extraordinary legacy.
Latoya revealed the plans in a recent interview, confirming that at least two concerts are being lined up in the United States, with additional shows planned for Europe. The tribute events will serve as a platform to build awareness for an independently financed documentary on Orlando Julius’ life and contributions to global music.
“I’m very excited about the tribute concert,” she said. “We are going to do at least two here in the US and a couple in Europe, that’s the plan.”
The concerts are designed to bring together African musicians and artists who knew Orlando Julius personally, alongside contemporary performers, with fundraising elements woven into each event. Latoya also hinted at reimagining some of his classic recordings for a new generation. “I’ll get out there and do my thing and then combine the reigning musicians with Orlando’s music,” she said.
The initiative is a continuation of Latoya’s tireless commitment to keeping her late husband’s name and music alive. Orlando Julius Aremu Olusanya Ekemode was a Nigerian saxophonist, singer, bandleader, and songwriter whose career spanned more than five decades , and whose influence on African music is difficult to overstate. He became a pioneering force behind Afrobeat, a genre (later adopted and amplified by Fela Anikulapo Kuti) and his 1966 album Super Afro Soul is now regarded as a cornerstone of the sound.
In the 1970s, Julius relocated to the United States, where he formed the band Umoja and collaborated with South African trumpeter Hugh Masekela. He also worked as a session musician in Los Angeles, collaborating with artists including James Brown and Lamont Dozier, and co-composed the song “Going Back to My Roots” with Dozier. He returned to Nigeria in 1984 before eventually building a transatlantic life and career with Latoya by his side.
Orlando Julius died in April 2022 at the age of 79. He was buried in Ijebu-Ijesha, Osun State. In the years since his passing, Latoya has led posthumous birthday commemorations in his hometown and organised virtual tribute concerts drawing prominent figures from the Nigerian music industry. The upcoming US and Europe dates represent the most ambitious phase yet of that mission, bringing Orlando Julius back to the international stages where he made his name, this time through the musicians and memories he left behind.
No specific dates for the concerts have been announced.
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