The voice of virtuoso exponent of Agidigbo ­ precursor of juju music, ex-seaman-walking encyclopedia of neo-traditional African music. Fatai traverses, the crest and trough of West Africa 's musical landscape in an attempt to track the sub-contInent's rhythmic genealogy.

GR: What is the original name of your music? Where did it come from and who were the people behind it?
Fatai: Originally, it evolved from a sound we call ‘palm wine' music and it was played as far back as between 1939 to about 1946.By then it consisted of the palm wine guitar- a box guitar), - Yoruba vocals and the sekere. On of the popular players of the music was Tunde King. He once had a problem and went back to Freetown , Sierra Leone, from where picked up another idea for the music.

On getting back to Lagos, he modified the palm-wine music. But the originator of this music form was a band called The Jolly Orchestra, popularly known as Atari Aianaku. It was led by a musician called Harbour Grant. In his band was another musician that left for London where he played in a hotel called Hotel Afrique - Ambrose Campbell. He left Nigeria on a British ship called Empire Ball and made a lot of records while over there. Another originator of the palm-wine music I mustn't forget to mention is Irewole Denge, an Ijebu man. In those days, he would play this four-cornered bass drum and sing the chorus lines in Yoruba all by himself.

GR: Just like the way Kokoro plays the Samba today?
Fatai: No! Kokoro plays in juju style.

GR: Did Kokoro ever form a band?
Fatai: Not at all. Because his songs do not fit into that kind of form. He sings what he likes. For him anything goes.

GR: Where is Kokoro from?
Fatai: He is from Owo. So, after Irewole Denge, Tunde King came on the scene with the popular group Atari Aianaku and later on, Ayinde Bakare.

GR: You mentioned Ambrose Campbell earlier. Where does he fit in?
Fatai: Well, after his involvement with the group Atari Ajanaku, he left for London. When they reached London they modified the music with the different instruments there. They made it much more beautiful with all the colonial instruments. It was no more indigenous. Especially with the input of the tenor sax and drums.

GR: Whom did they play for in those days? And on which streets and in what areas of Lagos did they play?
Fatai: In those days they used to play everywhere. Once you played here for a time, you packed up and went to another place again. Any street and anywhere on Lagos Island.

GR: Where were the jumping [vibrant] places and where was this palm ­ wine music really happening?
Fatai: Mostly Isale Eko, Ita Faaji, Tinubu, Ita Garawu ... places like that.

GR: So palm-wine music evolved into another music form that we all know to be juju music with the likes of Ayinde Bakare. Can you tell us the difference in the two styles?
Fatai: They are different because in the palm-wine style you play the palm­wine guitar alone with the sekere. Juju, on the other hand, is different and has a different meaning.

GR: What do you mean?
Fatai: It is called juju because of the tambourine. You understand me? When they used to play it on the street they would shout 'ju so ke'. They would then throw the tambourine up and shake it. ... shukushuku. That was how juju got its name and not from bad medicine and all that, even though in Saro land the word was taken to mean bad medicine. But here in Lagos our juju meant music. In juju then, we had the guitar, agidigbo, samba, sekere and at times we used the bottle to give us that clave sound. In fact, white people invented the clave from our bottle sound. That is where they got the idea for it.

You see, in those days, palm-wine music was strongly influenced by the Ghanaian musicians that used to come to Logos. Ghanaians like E.T Mensah and bands like the Ramblers, Block Beat and later on the Uhuru band. Then E.T Mensah used to sing songs in his language. We would go and buy their records and then change the lyrics into Yoruba because the songs all have the some rhythm and in fact this is how highlife with the Brass Bond started here in Nigeria .

GR: So the Brass Band and the type of highlife played here developed from palm-wine and juju music?
Fatai: Exactly. Because the content was still African. It's just that everything was pocked into it at the some time. So you see, highlife in Nigeria started from Ghana with E.T Mensah. There 'was also Calypso with Ishola Willy Payne and then later people like Chris Ajilo also came on the scene.

GR: Ayinde Bakare was very popular in those days ...
Fatai: Yes! Because of his tone. He was a great singer and really knew how to praise people with his voice.

GR: Does praising come easy for musicians? Or is it a gift from God?
Fatai:' Ah! it's a gift O! You do not get a lot of musicians who know how to praise and you cannot teach it to anybody. If the musician sees you he knows exactly how to praise you to make your head go crazy. It's a gift from the almighty and straight away people start spraying 3 you.

GR: And this is typical" of social life in Lagos?
Fatai: Exactly. They will all start spraying. I mean ... if you are a true-born Yoruba and they start praising your oriki, your head will swell. I'm telling you, when you hear them digging up your past, the oriki of all your great grandfathers ... My God!

GR: It seems to me that even with all the modern infusions in our music there is still this strong element of tradition remOlnmg.
Fatai: Juju is 'ibile' [indigenous], and the words in all our music is ijin/e [deep] Yoruba. And so are all the movements and actions.

GR: When did you come on the scene?
Fatai: Ayinde Bakare was still playing when I came on but had not expanded in a big way. When I came in we started with the highest man on guitar in Nigeria .

GR: What does that mean - "highest"?
Fatai: This man was a master on guitar. JO. Araba. The man who knew everything about guitar.

GR: Who taught him guitar and where was he from? How did he develop like that to be the best?
Fatai: Only God knows. He was from Ajashe (Port Novo) but born in Lagos (Lafiaji). An 'Egun' man but you cannot know. Lafiaji, Lagos ! He knew how to speak this Yoruba like anything. He was older than I am and he had played with Ishola Willy Payne in those days, and later with Victor Olaiya who used to play highlife in Yoruba.

GR: Where did you buy all your records from? You mentioned earlier how you used to buy Ghanaian music.
Fata;: We used to buy from Jofabro in Lagos and from Badejo, the eldest of all of them. He owned the first indigenous record label.

GR: Where did you play in those days?
Fatai: We played at Island Club and