Oghene Kologbo and Afrobeat Academy

Guitarist Oghene Kologbo, the son of legendary highlife musician Joe King Kologbo, was born in Warri, Nigeria in 1957. When he was a teenager, Oghene Kologbo began performing with Afrobeat pioneer Fela Kuti and would go on to play on 50 sides by Kuti’s band Africa 70. Although he was responsible for the group’s tenor guitar lines, he would often record rhythm guitar and bass lines. Serving as Fela Kuti’s personal assistant, Oghene Kologbo would teach the band the songs that his boss had written the night before. However, Oghene Kologbo and several other members left Africa 70 after playing the Berlin Jazz Festival in 1978. For the next two decades, he played with a variety of artists including Roots Anabo, Tony Allen, World Squad, King Sunny Ade, Brenda Fosse, James Brown, Stevie Wonder, Lester Bowie, Paul McCartney, Adé Bantu, Xavier Naidoo, Afrobeat Academy, and many others. His solo catalog includes the titles Remember Fela Anikulapo Kuti (2006), America Is the Future (2017), and Music Got No Enemy (2018).