Prolific trumpeter, Dr. Victor Olaiya passed away on the 12th of February at the Lagos University Teaching Hospital. One of the last vestiges from the golden age of highlife in the 50s and 60s, he continues to live on through his music.

Known as the “Evil Genius of Highlife”, he was born in Cross River, Calabar to a family from Ekiti. He moved to Lagos and had a stint at Howard University in the US before returning to Nigeria to form the Cool Cats in 1954, his highlife band that would go on to play for the Queen of England and alongside Louis Armstrong.

He continued his involvement in the music industry till present and bridged the gap with modern genres, releasing a remix of Baby Jowo featuring 2Face Idibia.

A friend of Atilade Atoyebi, he was fortunate to document a meeting with him at the Stadium Hotel, where he held court over his listeners with his tunes, where highlife music still reigns.

May his soul rest in peace and his musical contributions continue to transcend time.