Intercultural Dimensions in Ayo Bankole’s Music

This book discusses the concept of multifaceted musicality in post-colonial Nigeria. It shows how musical synthesis actually began with intra-cultural practices from pre-colonial Africa to the nineteenth century when modern intercultural music developed from foreign imprints emanating from colonization, the Islamic conquest, and the Christian missionary exertion. The biography of Ayo Bankole reveals his training and professional career in Nigeria, England and the United States. A discussion of Ayo Bankole’s compositions highlights the influence of European and African cultures on his music. However, it is in the vocal works of Ayo Bankole that one begins to enjoy and appreciate his deep knowledge of the Yoruba culture, norms, values, and experience in its traditional creative principles. The epilogue presents a chronological synopsis of the three generations of music composition in Nigeria from the late nineteenth century to Ayo Bankole’s era in the twentieth century. Composers, musicologists, performers, music students and church musicians will receive valuable information from the ethnography on cross-cultural expressions in modern African music. 3