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Dele Sosimi

Dele Sosimi is a top Afrobeat performer who was born in Hackney, London.
Going back to his school days in Nigeria to find out when he first took a keen interest in music, he used the school piano to teach himself to play Fela Kuti’s music. He recalls his grandfather being a church organist who had a great influence on his piano-playing. From age 14, Dele also started to play guitar and was a backing singer in the school band "Hidden Truth" after picking up a few foundational rudiments from the music teacher at Igbobi College.
From 1980-1986 Dele was in Fela Kuti’s band Egypt 80. They toured all over Europe and USA. Dele played keyboards on many Fela/Egypt 80 hits such as ITT (International Thief Thief), and Teacher Don't Teach Me Nonsense.
In the years 1987-1992 Dele was in Femi Kuti’s Jazz Quartet, they toured Benin Republic, Togo, Ivory Coast and Ghana.
During 1986-1995 Dele toured France, Spain, Austria, Holland, Belgium, Switzerland, UK, Germany, Denmark, USA, Canada, Ivory Coast, Togo, Benin Republic and Ghana with Femi Kuti and the Positive Force [co-founder].
Dele came to be based in Britain at the end of December 1995. In 1996, he started playing as a resident musician in some of London's Nigerian venues, initially playing as a duo, then later on forming Gbedu Resurrection, which he led to several London venues, such as the Africa Centre, Taylors and The Shrine. He also played for two of the Nigerian Independence Day Functions in 1997 and 1998, held at Hammersmith Palais and Lagoonda Nite Club respectively. Dele's collaborations in this period included working as lead pianist with The African Jazz Explosion All Stars, lead by Claude Deppa and also with Lucky Ranku and the African All Stars.
Top venues in London where Dele has played since 2000 include the South Bank Halls and Smollensky’s. Dele started 2003 with a bang that can only be attributed to the successful release of his album Turbulent Times at the beginning of 2002. Following this, in 2003 Dele and his 14-piece strong Afrobeat Orchestra stormed and rocked the Queen Elizabeth Hall, London, the x.trax showcase in Manchester, the Respect Festival at the Millenium Dome in Greenwich and the Jazz Café. Another highlight was at London's Africa Day 2007. Internationally Dele has performed in Holland, Mexico City, Canada and Norway.
Dele Sosimi now performs in three formats – as the Afrobeat Acoustic

Trio, as a 6-piece group, called Dele Sosimi’s Gbedu and the other as a minimum 10-piece Afrobeat Orchestra. Some of Dele Sosimi’s original compositions currently being played include ‘Gbedu 1’, ‘Big Cat Fat Cat’, ‘Turbulent Tymes’, ‘Di Godfada’ & ‘Phase 2 (What Next?)’. Others include; ‘Wahala O’, ‘Solid Block’, ‘Stop it Don’t Do That’, ‘No Place To Be Shy’ and ‘Suru Ni’.
Dele selected the tracks for the 3-CD compilation entitled Essential Afrobeat (2004). He was producer and co-writer of Calabash Volume 1: Afrobeat Poems by Ikwunga, the Afrobeat Poet (2004). He is a central member of the Wahala Project, whose single 'Wahala' appears on Puma's 2006 Soccer World Cup Compilation CD (2006).The tracks 'Turbulent Times' and 'Di Bombs' are on Sound Affects Africa (2006).
Another track, 'Gbedu 1' is included on the compilation Afrobeat …No Go Die! (2000). Dele's eagerly awaited second album is Identity (2007), full of more of Dele's unique style.
Dele says that his children are very interested in his music and are currently learning different instruments. He goes on to say “I aspire to be great in what I do and this is a continuous thing. Also to be a role model to other musicians.” and “Life throws challenges all the time. The ability to take on the challenges to the best of your current ability will make you better prepared for the next ones.”
As a composer, singer and entertainer Dele has incorporated the piano into his Afro-groove and is popular for his percussive style of delivering the block chords first introduced and used tirelessly by Fela Anikulapo-Kuti. Dele Sosimi has been dubbed the King of Afrobeat piano and he works as an educator too.
Any one who has seen Dele on stage with his band will confirm that he is definitely the talk of the town!
His own web site address is www.delesosimi.org