All for music, musicians

Founder Evergreen Music Company, Mr. Femi Esho is a rare music aficionado. From setting up a 21-piece music band in 1993, to establishing Evergreen Music Company that promotes and preserves Nigerian music genres in 2005, Esho’s love for music knows no bound. At 74, he has something new up his sleeves for music lovers, Assistant Editor (Arts) OZOLUA UHAKHEME reports. 

In the last three years, Evergreen Music Heritage Foundation (EMHF) has been working on how to reposition the largest collection of African music of yesteryears. The collection consists of  about 150,000 vinyl, reel-to-reel tapes, cassettes, agidigbo, gramophones, turntables, books and journals on African music and musicians. The foundation stands in as a reference point for Nigeria/Africa’s music heritage of all era. It  also  acts as a cultural ambassador and harbinger of Nigeria/Africa’s music heritage and ensures its continuous preservation and promotion from extinction.

Board members of the foundation are committed experts and they include Managing Director Evergreen Music Company Limited, Bimbo Esho who is Executive Secretary of the board, Mr. Tunde Fagbenle, a veteran columnist and Dr. Ibukun Odeyemi as directors.

Executive Secretary, Evergreen Music Heritage Foundation Bimbo Esho said there is a dire need for the foundation at this period of Nigeria’s history because there are factors that are threatening the continuous propagation of ‘our heritage, chief of which is the exposure of our people to more advanced civilisation and the influx of foreign musical idioms.’ According to her, many musicians today are living in a state of euphoria, which has taken its toll on our ethos with an unconscious eroding traditional musical values thereby leaving many in a state of cultural disenchantment,” she added. Esho noted that the need for the foundation at this time also stems from the desire to bequeath to future generations a strong philosophy and appreciation of the sheer artistic genius of Nigeria/Africa’s renowned musical talents many of whom have been forgotten.

The foundation also focuses on fostering cultural harmony and national appreciation for unity, creating a top tourist visitation sites for music lovers and promoting worldwide acceptance through music.

She described the foundation as huge project that requires the supports and sponsors of music lovers, government and corporate bodies, noting that considering its scope and budget, the foundation is beyond one individual to realise.

She disclosed that the foundation, which primarily serves as a music research centre, has among other facilities a library, studio, listening booth, theatre and recreation centre for development.

The foundation objectives include:

*to act as a non-profit, non-governmental and developmental organisation promoting music in Nigeria and to engage in music related works in Nigeria and Africa,

* to establish and manage a sound archive with a wide ranging collection of popular music containing commercial releases, documentaries, interviews and performances from all eras and genres,

* to build a library of books, music and videos of Nigeria musicians in shellac and vinyl records, cassettes tapes, reel-to-reel tapes, tape recording machines and turntables and any other form that will encourage the study of African music.

“The foundation is for the preservation of Nigerian music and musicians, also an effort to have a house for everything about music in Lagos. It will be about the musicians and their stories etc. A place of research for lecturers, musicians and all that has anything to do with music. It will be the first of its kind in the country. It is meant to house and preserve our music heritage for generations to come. And considering the repertoire of our collection, we stand the position to place all these for public consumption. It is a research institute for all.

“The foundation will also serve as a one-stop centre for musicians seeking information about the industry, as well as serve as a place of interface between musicians and the public.

The foundation will guide old musicians especially in promoting their good health via insurance. This will be in collaboration with insurance companies. It will also provide professional guide on issues of contractual agreements and royalty for the musicians. The foundation will also provide broadcasting stations with relevant music materials for their usage,” she added.

On the need to partner other stakeholders, she said: “Project like this can only survive by partnership. Already, we are looking at that direction and we are already discussing with some organisations and government. But only those who will share our in dream can partner us.”

Esho said that the headquarters project can be realised within six months if the resources are available, noting that the rough estimate for the first phase of the project is N500million.

Digitalisation of collections

We began  the digitalisation of our collection while we were at Somolu area of Lagos six years ago. We have over 150,000 items in our collection, which consist of Apala, Waka, Afrobeat, Bolojo, Pop, Juju, Highlife and many more. It has been a long process and it is still ongoing. Again, we are trying to put some of these contents on digital platforms for easy access to the Diaspora and researchers such that part of the proceeds from these can go to the family of the musicians. So far, we have digitalised about five percent of our collection.

Challenges

We have all it takes to flag off the project, but finance is the only challenge for now to bring the project to fruition. The founder of the foundation has spent about 60 years preparing the ground for the project. So time is now for like minds to be part of the project.

We registered the foundation in 2018.  And we realised that the project is beyond individual and the public needs to have access to this huge collection. Our primary concern now is not about Evergreen as a company, but members of the public who will make use of the collections. We are not limiting our search to Nigeria for partnership. And as a foundation, it is open to supports and sponsors from across the globe.