Marius Marie Joseph Olloy

Born on 14  March 1975 in Pointe Noire,

Democratic Republic of Congo

Instrument: Keyboard

BIOGRAPHY

Marius Marie Joseph, or Olloy as he is affectionately called, was born on 14
March 1975 in Pointe Noire, the economic capital of the Republic of Congo,
Brazzaville to father Firmin and mother Oboroto Therese. Olloy is the eighth
child of 14 children. Ten of them are musicians.

Olloy's love for music started at the age of 12, when he was the first voice
singer of the Roman Catholic Church Choir in Dolize, Congo Brazzaville.
His brother encouraged him to play the African drum (konga) but Olloy later
became a bass guitarist for many years, participating in many concerts and
festivals all over central Africa where he met many famous musicians. Olloy
played his first notes on a keyboard at the Music Academy of Brazzaville
where he did a four-year diploma. He later studied classical piano, playing
pieces from great classical musicians such as Mozart, Beethoven and many
others. This experience, he said, changed his vision of becoming a bass
guitarist to a pianist instead.

In 1999, Olloy decided to change his music style and traveled to Namibia.
While in Namibia, Olloy did music full time, playing for different bands as
keyboardist and bass guitarist. He joined The Mighty Dreads in 2005 and
feels happy performing with the rest of the group members, saying they are
his family now.

In 2005, a group of Namibian musicians were invited to the International
Montreux Jazz festival in Switzerland and Olloy was one of them. It was
there, that he met jazz musician George Benson and many others from whom he
gained a lot of experience. Olloy also participated as a pianist in a studio
recording of a Swiss musician, Jaz for his first album titled "Roof Top" at
the Taurus Studios in Geneva, Switzerland. "This led me to fame at an
international level," he says.