“Excuse me Sir, you look like Orlando Julius”
“Yes, that’s me”

I was confused. The man standing in front of me at BusyInternet in Accra (Ghana) was Orlando Julius? Hmmnnn… Coolll!!! That was in late 2005.
Just last Friday, the main guest on KSM’s Thank God Its Friday (TGIF) on Metro TV in Ghana was no other than Orlando Julius! He spoke in-depth about himself and his great music career that has spanned over 40 years.

If you are a Nigerian, or you leave in South-Western Nigeria, or you are an African-American in the USA, Orlando Julius will not be unfamiliar to you; especially if you speak/understand Yoruba.

According to Nigeria-Arts.net,

Starting out in the late 60′s when his uncle, the late I.K. Dairo MBE bought him his first saxophone, Orlando Julius rose quickly to the top of the music field. By the early 70s, he was competing with Afrobeat doyen Fela Kuti for dominance in the Afrobeat realm. In the late 1970s and early 80′s Orlando released a series of stunning records which won critical acclaim. Following on this momentum, Orlando took his band and moved to the US where he spent the next 15 years building a fan base of Americans.

In 1998, Orlando and wife Latoya moved back to Nigeria where he instantly became a force in the market and has risen to a leadership role in the musicians union and other seminal Nigerian musician’s organizations.

TV3 Mentor has also given him some lime-light in recent times, here in Ghana where he has been a guest judge and has also been a guest performer.

Latoya Aduke
She was already winning fans to herself and I liked her even before knowing she was married to Orlando Julius. That only makes me like her more.

She was also with OJ on KSM’s TGIF last Friday and spoke her music career, meeting Orlando and so on.

I came across some great websites where you can read about Latoya:

• An article on Latoya in Daily Graphic. It’s hilarious.
• Latoya on Nigeria Arts website

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