Nick Flade & Ola Onabulé | "Better Man"

British Nigerian, Singer Songwriter Ola Onabulé and German songwriter, producer and multi-instrumentalist, Nick Flade joined forces on this retro pop/soul song, Better Man. Flade created the music production and Ola was immediately inspired to write the lyrics which talk about a man finally seeing himself as a separate entity and being his own strongest judge and critic. This man wants to be the best version of himself that he can imagine.

It was recorded at Mastermix Studios, formally known as Electric Studios, Munich - the famous site for the conceptualising, writing and recording of seminal albums from the 70s and 80s from artists including Donna Summer, ELO, Pete Bellotte, Giorgio Moroder, Jennifer Rush. This iconic studio became the location for the filming of the sumptuous retro video that accompanies Better Man.

This mid-tempo, groove based song is reminiscent of the sounds of the great soul era of the 60 & 70s era exemplified by artists such as Al Green, Otis Redding, Sam Cooke and more recently Sharon Jones, The instrumentation is drums, bass, guitar, Rhodes, Hammond organ and a ‘Phoenix Horns’ style brass arrangement.

Ola Onabulé has built an enviable career through a relentless schedule both in the recording studio and as an international touring performer. Ola will be touring next year with his European quartet as well as performing with Jazz orchestras and symphonic orchestras. I would like you introduce Ola's latest symphonic project Point Less arranged by Tobias Becker. Ola has performed the project in several countries with more scheduled for 2024. This is a powerful project and score and Ola would like to dramatise the project and I would very much like to discuss this with you.

Ola Onabule's last album, Point Less was listed on many international publications as one of the best albums of 2019 including Downbeat Magazine (US), All About Jazz (US) and Jazz in Europe (Europe) amongst them.

Ola has performed on the main stages of many of the international jazz festivals including main stages of Montreal, Vancouver, San Sebastian, Istanbul, Washington, and Umbria, as well as at concert halls and Jazz clubs worldwide, building and consolidating a reputation with audiences globally. Onabulé's music combines elements of jazz, soul, funk and African music to create a unique and distinctive sound. His lyrics often address social and political issues, such as the fight against oppression and injustice. He has received acclaim from critics and fans alike for his ability to combine a powerful message with beautiful and moving music.

Onabulé has also collaborated with some of the world’s foremost Big Bands, including the Grammy Award-winning Big Bands from Cologne (The WDR Big Band), Stuttgart (The SWR Big Band) and Frankfurt (The HR Big Band), Denmark (Danish Radio Big Band) and his experience extends to symphony orchestras such as the Orquesta Liepaja Symphony, The Symphonic Orchestra of San Luis Potosi, Mexico, The Babelsberg Film Orchestra Potsdam. Onabulé has new projects on the way with the HR Big Band Frankfurt, Zurich Jazz Orchestra, The Sicilian Jazz Orchestra, Gotland Big Band Sweden, Latvian Radio Big Band and the New Wind Jazz Orchestra Estonia which demonstrates his ability to adapt and collaborate with different artists and world class musicians.