Ahamefule J. Oluo

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.{{cite web|title=Horns of Sorrow|first=Charles|last=Mudede|authorlink=Charles Mudede|date=August 28, 2013|work=The Stranger|url=https://www.thestranger.com/seattle/horns-of-sorrow/Content?oid=17606767|accessdate=February 6, 2018}} They are a member of jazz quartet Industrial Revelation, winner of a 2014 Stranger Genius Award.{{cite web|title=The Stranger Genius Awards: The Event|year=2016|work=The Stranger|url=http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/Special/Genius?view=event|accessdate=February 6, 2018}} The other members of Industrial Revelation are D'Vonne Lewis (drums), Evan Flory-Barnes (bass), and Josh Rawlings (keyboards).{{cite web|title=Industrial Revelation|year=2016|work=The Stranger|url=https://www.thestranger.com/seattle/industrial-revelation/Content?oid=20862444|first=Charles|last=Mudede|authorlink=Charles Mudede|accessdate=February 7, 2018}}

In 2012, Oluo was selected as Town Hall Seattle's first-ever artist-in-residence.{{Cite web|url=http://hosted.verticalresponse.com/1001801/5c2844ec85/TEST/TEST/|title=TOWN HALL: Our NEW Artist/Scholar-In-Residence!|website=hosted.verticalresponse.com|access-date=March 10, 2018}} 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.{{Cite news|url=http://kuow.org/post/miserable-year-inspired-ahamefule-oluos-now-im-fine|title=The Miserable Year That Inspired Ahamefule Oluo's 'Now I'm Fine'|last=Sillman|first=Marcie|access-date=March 10, 2018}} 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.{{Cite news|url=https://uproxx.com/life/the-pursuit-ahamefule-j-oluo-the-artist-who-would-not-quit/2/|title=When The Biggest Success Is Refusing To Ever Quit|date=November 4, 2016|work=UPROXX|access-date=March 10, 2018}} 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. The piece went on to New York City's Public Theater in January 2016 as part of the Under the Radar Festival{{cite web|title=Ahamefule J. Oluo: Now I'm Fine|url=https://www.publictheater.org/Tickets/Calendar/PlayDetailsCollection/UTR/2016/Now-Im-Fine/|publisher=The Public Theater|accessdate=February 6, 2018}}{{cite web|title=Review: 'Now I'm Fine,' Ahamefule J. Oluo's Take on Himself|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2016/01/14/theater/review-now-im-fine-ahamefule-j-oluos-take-on-himself.html|work=The New York Times|first=Ben|last=Brantley|authorlink=Ben Brantley|date=January 17, 2016|accessdate=February 6, 2018}} and was also staged at the Clarice Smith Performing Arts Center at the University of Maryland in February 2017.{{cite web|title=Review: Ahamefule J. Oluo's 'Now I'm Fine' at The Clarice|url=https://dcmetrotheaterarts.com/2017/02/18/review-ahamefule-j-oluos-now-im-fine-clarice/|publisher=DC Metro Theater Arts|first=Emily|last=Schweich|date=February 18, 2017|accessdate=February 6, 2018}} 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."{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2016/01/14/theater/review-now-im-fine-ahamefule-j-oluos-take-on-himself.html|title=Review: 'Now I'm Fine,' Ahamefule J. Oluo's Take on Himself|last=Brantley|first=Ben|year=2016|work=The New York Times|access-date=March 10, 2018|issn=0362-4331}}

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.{{Cite web |date=2020-08-07 |title='Thin Skin,' inspired by Seattle musician and comedian Ahamefule J. Oluo's stories, will debut at Bentonville Film Festival |url=https://www.seattletimes.com/entertainment/movies/thin-skin-inspired-by-seattle-musician-and-comedian-ahamefule-j-oluos-stories-debuts-at-bentonville-film-festival/ |access-date=2025-03-17 |website=The Seattle Times |language=en-US}} In November 2023, the film was released on streaming platforms and screened in theaters in Seattle, Los Angeles, and New York City.{{cite news|url=https://www.thestranger.com/stranger-suggests/2023/11/15/79262031/stranger-suggests-thin-skin-old-man-of-the-woods-seattle-turkish-film-festival-alva-noe-gaza-fights-for-freedom|title=Stranger Suggests: Thin Skin, Old Man of the Woods, Seattle Turkish Film Festival, Alva Noë, Gaza Fights for Freedom|work=The Stranger|date=2023-11-05|location=Seattle|accessdate=2023-11-15}} Oluo wrote the film's script with Lindy West and Charles Mudede.{{Cite web |title=The Team |url=https://www.thinskinmovie.com/the-team |access-date=2025-03-17 |website=THIN SKIN |language=en-US}} Mudede also directed. The producers of the film were Michael Seiwerath, Jennessa West, and Jonathan Caso. Oluo's sister Ijeoma Oluo appears in the film as herself.

As a comedian, they have collaborated closely with Hari Kondabolu, who described them in 2010 as "my great friend and writing partner."{{cite web|title=December Shows in the Pacific Northwest|date=December 13, 2010|website=harikondabolu.com|url=http://www.harikondabolu.com/2010/12/december-shows-in-the-pacific-northwest/|first=Hari|last=Kondabolu|authorlink=Hari Kondabolu|accessdate=February 7, 2018}}

Oluo is biracial; their father is a black immigrant from Nigeria and their mother is a white woman from Kansas.{{cite web|date=July 6, 2011|title=My Father Is an African Immigrant and My Mother Is a White Girl from Kansas and I Am Not the President of the United States Or, How to Disappoint Your Absent Father in 20 Words or Less|first=Ahamefule J.|last=Oluo|url=http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/my-father-is-an-african-immigrant-and-my-mother-is-a-white-girl-from-kansas-and-i-am-not-the-president-of-the-united-states/Content?oid=8932130|work=The Stranger}}

Oluo married writer Lindy West on July 11, 2015.{{cite web|last=West|first=Lindy|authorlink=Lindy West|title=My wedding was perfect – and I was fat as hell the whole time|url=https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2015/jul/21/my-wedding-perfect-fat-woman|work=The Guardian|date=July 21, 2015}} They and West practice polyamory.{{Citation |title=Polyamory Is Not Too Good To Be True: Lindy, Roya, & Aham On The Best Relationship Of Their Lives | date=January 27, 2022 |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xWJWx4HnaxY |access-date=2023-07-03 |language=en}}

Their older sister is writer and activist Ijeoma Oluo.

{{reflist}}

• [https://www.thisamericanlife.org/569/put-a-bow-on-it Put a Bow on It], episode of This American Life, October 9, 2015. Act 2, "The Wedding Crasher", is a 23-minute autobiographical piece by Oluo.
• Paulette Beete, [https://www.arts.gov/art-works/2016/art-talk-ahamefule-j-oluo Art Talk with Ahamefule J. Oluo], Art Works Blog (blog of the National Endowment for the Arts), February 17, 2016
• [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5XlWbe0Zc2M Industrial Revelation – Full Performance (Live on KEXP)], recorded November 23, 2016, published February 3, 2017, official KEXP account on YouTube.

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Category:American jazz trumpeters

Category:American male trumpeters

Category:Living people

Category:Writers from Seattle

Category:Musicians from Seattle

Category:Year of birth missing (living people)

Category:21st-century American musicians

Category:African-American jazz composers

Category:African-American writers

Category:21st-century American trumpeters

Category:American male jazz composers

Category:American jazz composers

Category:21st-century American male musicians

Category:21st-century African-American musicians

Category:Polyamorous people

Category:American musicians of Nigerian descent