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Ahamefule J. Oluo
Musical artist From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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Ahamefule J. Oluo is an American musician,[1] trumpeter,[2][3] composer,[2] stand-up comedian, and writer.[4] Oluo uses they/them pronouns.[5] They were the first artist-in-residence at Town Hall Seattle.[6]
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Career
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As a trumpeter, Oluo has performed or recorded with numerous prominent musicians and groups, including Das Racist, John Zorn, Hey Marseilles, Wayne Horvitz, Macklemore, and Julian Priester.[7] They are a member of jazz quartet Industrial Revelation,[8] winner of a 2014 Stranger Genius Award.[9] The other members of Industrial Revelation are D'Vonne Lewis (drums), Evan Flory-Barnes (bass), and Josh Rawlings (keyboards).[10]
In 2012, Oluo was selected as Town Hall Seattle's first-ever artist-in-residence.[11] During their time as the artist-in-residence, they created an experimental autobiographical pop opera, "Now I'm Fine," about the year their father died.[12] The full-length opera (co-written with Lindy West) debuted in December 2014, at On the Boards theater, complete with a 17-piece orchestra, and received positive reviews.[13] Seattle Times critic Misha Berson said Oluo possibly created "a new art form" by combining their own big-band jazz pieces with a blend of standup comedy and memoir.[2] The piece went on to New York City's Public Theater in January 2016 as part of the Under the Radar Festival[8][14] and was also staged at the Clarice Smith Performing Arts Center at the University of Maryland in February 2017.[15] The New York Times reviewed the Public Theater run of "Now I'm Fine," saying that Oluo expanded the format of the "standard, modest, one-man confessional show" to "dizzying proportions" and described the score as "modernist jazz [that] leans toward solemnity, suggesting a New Orleans funeral march."[16]
The film Thin Skin, starring Oluo was based on their off-Broadway play Now, I'm Fine and their This American Life episode "The Wedding Crasher". The film premiered in 2020 at the Bentonville Film Festival online, due to the COVID-19 pandemic.[17] In November 2023, the film was released on streaming platforms and screened in theaters in Seattle, Los Angeles, and New York City.[18] Oluo wrote the film's script with Lindy West and Charles Mudede.[19] Mudede also directed. The producers of the film were Michael Seiwerath, Jennessa West, and Jonathan Caso.[19] Oluo's sister Ijeoma Oluo appears in the film as herself.[18]
As a comedian, they have collaborated closely with Hari Kondabolu, who described them in 2010 as "my great friend and writing partner."[20]
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Personal life
Oluo is biracial; their father is a black immigrant from Nigeria and their mother is a white woman from Kansas.[21]
Oluo married writer Lindy West on July 11, 2015.[22] They and West practice polyamory.[23]
Their older sister is writer and activist Ijeoma Oluo.[6]
References
External links
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