November 9, 2019 marks the 37th anniversary of the death of the Apala maestro, Alhaji Haruna Ishola Bello Ijaduola, aka Baba Gani Agba.
As far as colossus goes, there was none as big as Haruna Ishola. The Ijebu Igbo born musician virtually wrote the book on Apala, the Yoruba traditional musical genre, along with Sakara, which dominated the social scenes in the Yoruba part of Western Nigeria in thise days before the advent of Fuji music, undoubtedly created by the late Alhaji Sikiru Ayinde Barrister and propagated by his disciples.
Alhaji Haruna Ishola was a legendary icon, the first truly prosperous indigenous musician. he was a label owner, real estate tycoon, businessman and industrialist. He set the standard of opulence that musicians today take for granted.
To truly appreciate his genius, you will have to situate him in the era of highlife, and he held his own against the greats like Bobby Benson and Victor Olaiya, as well as the popularity of Yusuf Olatunji Ajao Ojurongbe, the Sakara grandmaster.
In fact, his dominance of the genre was so comprehensive that the Apala Toastmaster, the late Alhaj Waidi Ayinla Omowura, in his characteristic take-no- prisoners manner, sang that he would no longer respect any musician who did not respect him, with the exception of Haruna Ishola, the father of the genre.
Outside Apala, the late Haruna Ishola was also interested in nurturing talents across the board. His recording label, Phonodisk, and his state of the art studio was a mecca of sorts, and he may even be credited in a way with the emergence of of the likes of Kris Okotie, and other artistes on his label of that era.
It has been 37 years, but his legacy lives on.
