Lagbaja’s protégé breaks away, begins fresh musical odyssey

After years of stewardship with the iconic saxophonist Lagbaja, fast-rising multi-instrumentalist, Dayo Ajayi, otherwise known in music circles as D’Plus has opened another vista for himself in the world of music.

He recalls that being the youngest member of Lagbaja’s band was herculean and eye-opening enough, having to combine his traditional piano with playing the bass guitar and a talking drum among other musical instruments.

According to the 25-year-old Sociology and Anthropology graduate of the University of Ado Ekiti, Ekiti State, his rebirth came while the band was preparing for a week-long performance trip to Paris, France, last year.

He said, “We didn’t have a bass guitarist in the band so I had to take it on. I didn’t really mind though. Then, he asked me to learn how to play the talking drum. I was shocked because I had never played it before. He told me to see myself as a utility player in a football team who could play any role.

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“As God would have it, I learnt it fast enough and he was pleased but it was very tough for me. He gave me so much to do. At a particular show, I was literally playing the piano, chords on one hand, brass on the other and I was still controlling the computer almost at the same time. It was tasking, yet, he would yell at me like I wasn’t doing anything. But after our last show in Paris, he gave me a pat on the back and said he was proud of my performance. It felt like I was gifted a million dollars.”

D’Plus described Lagbaja as “a stickler for perfection, very painstaking and tough to work with, but a very wise and exposed man. I learnt the virtues of discipline and hard work from him.”

Recalling his meeting with Lagbaja, the dark-hued D’Plus, now a full-fledged member of widely-travelled gospel artiste, Frank Edwards’s band, said he was recommended by a friend and then invited to Motherlan’ Opebi, Lagos, Lagbaja’s musical sanctuary and from then on, he has never looked back.

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