Olu Dara

The cornet player, guitarist and singer Olu Dara is nowadays best known for being the father of Nas, the multi-platinum selling rapper with over 25 million record sales to his credit. His son's success tends to overshadow Dara's own considerable talent as a cornet player who, after moving north to New York in 1963, became involved in the avant-garde jazz movement prevalent in the city. It's a measure of Dara's stature as a player that during this period he played alongside highly respected performers such as saxophonist David Murray, the Pulitzer prize-winning composer Henry Threadgill and the legendary jazz drummer Art Blakey.

During his career he formed two bands, The Okra Orchestra and the Natchezippi Band and although he started his recording career in the early 1970s it wasn't until 1998 that he recorded a debut album under his own name titled 'In the World: From Natchez to New York', followed up by the 2001 release 'Neighborhoods'. Dara's albums are an eclectic mix of blues, jazz, funk and reggae blended with African popular music and both father and son have made guest appearances on each other's albums.

Outside his musical career Dara is also an actor and a playright and has been involved in putting on his own productions. He staged the play 'Blues Rooms' to strong critical acclaim during the late 1990s in New York.