By Veno Marioghae Mbanefo
September 13th will make it 36 years since Jake Solo (Nkemkoanam Okonkwo) died in an accident on his way to Oguta, to do some production work on Charley Boy’s album.
He was my big brother and music mentor. He was one of the kindest and happiest people I ever met. I think that you will do him more justice on your Facebook page than anyone else. He was the second of only two children. His elder brother is a medical doctor and they were a very close knit family. His mother was Prof. Chinua Achebe’s sister.
He was a member of the Funkees. He later joined Osibisa when he was in the UK. He was married to a Briton with whom he had two daughters. When he came back to Nigeria, he became the in-house producer for Tabansi Records.
During that time, he produced artistes like Felix Liberty, Chris Mba and a host of others on the label. Then, he left to set up his own production company.
With no job prospects immediately after my National Youth Service year in Kaduna, I ended up working as the in-house back-up singer on his numerous productions, even as he worked on my own album, which was to debut on his “LookHear Records” label.
There was hardly a day we were not in the studio. That was his life and passion. In that time, he produced so many artistes that one can’t remember many of them. But among them were Sammy Obot, Eric Cole, Mannix Okonkwo, Sam Ikwue, Bunmi Olajubu, Tony Grey and Emma Dorgu.
Sometimes, he collaborated with other producers like Nkono Teles and also did jingles with Bongos Ikwue. He died in his mid/late 30s, in the company of one of his artistes, 26-year-old Al Jackson Nnakwe, who was like a son to him.
Jake was a perfectionist on his instruments and vocal arrangements. He played the keyboards, guitar and bass guitar, and was a songwriter. While he was in the UK, he was the brains behind “Galaxy” an all-female music group.
Unfortunately, I don’t have any of his photographs. Those were not the days of selfies. I believe that you can get a picture of his from the group photograph of the Funkees band. Thanks, and God bless you.