Biography Intro:  Ayinde Bakare (1912 – 1 October 1972) was a pioneering Yoruba jùjú and highlife musician in Nigeria.

NAME:  Ayinde Bakare

DATE OF BIRTH: 1912 – 1 October 1972

PLACE OF BIRTH: Lagos

FATHER: Pa bakare

OCCUPATION:  Bandleader

CAREER AND PROFESSIONAL ACTIVITIES: He began performing around 1935, and first recorded on the HMV label in 1937.

One of his early juju tracks was Layinka Sapara, a praise song dedicated to the daughter of Oguntola Sapara, on the other side of the track was Ajibabi unlike Layinka was played with the more popular Sakara sound. Bakare formed a band which he later called Meranda after the film Miranda. The group started with four members (banjo ukulele, shekere, juju, vocals), but by 1949 had grown to seven members, and by 1959 to eight (electric guitar, shekere, juju, two varieties of conga (akuba and ogido), gangan, and two supporting vocalists). He is thought to have been the first juju musician to use an amplified guitar, in 1949, after switching to the guitar from the banjo ukulele. Bakare’s innovations established the mainstream style of juju music in Nigeria after World War II.  He tried to retain the same personnel within his bands, used his own material rather than that from other bands, and tried to avoid any dilution of the traditional features of his music, believing that musical continuity would enhance its quality.