Keziah Jones

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Keziah Jones (born Olufemi Sanyaolu on January 10, 1968 in Lagos, Nigeria) is a Nigerian singer-songwriter and guitarist. He describes his musical style as “Blufunk”, which is a fusion between raw blues elements and hard, edgy funk rhythms. Also his Nigerian roots and soul music can be considered a major influence on his sound.
He is known for his distinctive style of guitarplaying, above all his percussive right-hand technique which is similar to bass player’s slapping technique. He’s also famous for playing most of his live shows with a bare torso.

Son of a chief Osodolamu Sanyaolu in a Yoruba tribe and successful industrialist, Keziah (Olufemi) spent his early childhood in a large family in the semi-Muslim part of Nigeria, close to the city of Lagos. From a young age he was being prepared to follow his father’s footsteps and was expected to have an academic career. Therefore his father enrolled him in a Public School in London and Keziah left Nigeria at 8 years old to be educated in England.
“I had to find a way out of all that bullshit, and music was it!” By the age of 13 he discovered the old school piano and taught himself how to play and write songs. Three years later he switched to the guitar, neglecting his studies more and more. After scraping through exams he went against his father’s wishes and family tradition even more by skipping school and trying out his songs in the streets, clubs and London Underground, constantly avoiding the police, the Immigration Department - and his own relatives.
Keziah played mostly improvised sets with tenor Saxophone player Kevin Wood at the Red Eye club in Lewisham, south London at least three times during 1988/9.
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Keziah Jones live in London

30 Sep 2010 | from www.keziahjones.com

‘Tony Allen 70 – Nigeria 50′ Wednesday, 6 October 2010, 7.30pm Barbican Hall, Barbican Centre, Silk Street , London EC2Y 8DS Keziah Jones will join the line-up for a special one-off concert taking place at London’s Barbican on 6 October to celebrate …

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