About Me:

The Promise is the ideal title for the new release from the Olatuja Project, the first recorded collaboration between Michael Olatuja (acoustic/electric bassist and composer), his wife Alicia Olatuja (vocalist/composer) and their virtuoso band. It fulfills the promises suggested by Michael’s 2009 debut, Speak, named the R&B Album of the Year at the 9th Annual Independent Music Awards and given a rave review by the BBC’s music website, which called it “the expression of a singular creative voice that taps all the cultures from which it is born.”

But even more than that, The Promise (World Tune Records) fulfills the couple’s collective vision to create music that fuses such traditional elements of African music as the Yoruba tongue, the talking drum and call-and-response vocals with the familiar Western languages of contemporary jazz, traditional gospel, R&B, neo-soul and a funky groove.

The Promise, produced by Michael and Alicia, takes the musical stew, Speak, to the next level, expanding on the earlier album’s rich sonic and lyrical tapestry. Its 10 tracks are inspirational and stirring, imbued with multiple, diverse colors and ambiances, abounding with a vast variety of textures and tales. As Michael says, “The songs flow like a single story,” and that story defines the special, personal and artistic world inhabited by the Olatujas.

The Olatuja Project have toured and recorded with stars such as The Brooklyn Tabernacle Choir, BeBe Winans, Chaka Khan, Stevie Wonder, Patti Austin, Chrisette Michele, Lisa Stansfield, Terence Blanchard, Roy Ayers, Christian McBride, Rod Stewart and many others.

Gender

male

Location

New York

Website

http://www.olatujaproject.com

What aspect of the festival are you interested in: Music, Food or the Arts?

music

How did you find out about Uptown Jazz Dallas IJF?

From The Organizers.