I love soul music and I thank God for letting me get to know Ola - what a talented singer/songwriter! Last week I received his 5'th album "In Emergency, Brake Silence" and was so exited - this is soul music as it sounded when it was best, successfully mixed with Ola's original songwriting. Ola MEANS something with his songs and uses his unique talents to express his emotions - the difference is that it MATTERS for him to tell his stories! Every 12 songs (played live in studio) on his new album are pearls of love - man, I'm already a dedicated fan!! If you care about quality of life - don't miss Ola's music... (Thomas Hansen Skarbye)

Though he was born in London, England, OLA spent his formative years in Nigeria. His first band, The Diplomats, was formed in his mid teens and were heavily influenced by the music of the Seventies ( funk soul jazz and gospel) that was exploding all around them.

OLA returned to Britain in the late seventies to pursue his education and by the mid eighties he had bought a guitar, learnt a few chords and was playting solo gigs in around London. Soon he was forming collaborations with other musicians on the soul jazz circuit and in the early eighties demos of his songwriting efforts came to the attention of Elektra (US) boss Bob Krasnow who signed him to the British wing of the company. Unfortunately the deal came to an end a year later... so OLA came up with the bright idea of setting up his own label Rugged Ram Records.

I have never owned a "classic electric piano" or a Wurly, but my music being strongly influenced by the great soul, funk and fusion artists of the 60s and 70s, every keyboard player I've ever worked with has owned one or the other of these classic keyboards or at least known where to beg, borrow or steal either of them at short notice. Consequently, as a vocalist it is the sound I have most been accompanied by in my career. In fact my friend, the keyboardist Alex Bennet, just bought himself a thoroughly well reconditioned "classic electric piano" that he had shipped in from America for a hefty "House deposit" kinda sum. He is so scared of taking the hefty, sacred beast on the road that he might as well donate it to a museum where it can be gazed upon by music intellectuals but certainly never played! As for the Wurly, we had one round here (My studio), for the recording of my new album, "IN EMERGENCY BRAKE SILENCE" and spent good money seeing to hum and crackle problems and yet more time applying and filing solder to keep the beast in tune, probably more time than we spent actually making music on it! So why the rant? You ask. I'll tell you why... I have just installed onto my computer a "classic electric piano" and a Wurli, THE SCARBEE C.E.P. and THE SCARBEE E.E.P to be precise. I have Three words for you: Oh yeah Baby! Note I didn't say virtual, emulation, simulation, modelled, 12bit, 2 layer, plug-in thingy! This is to all intents and purposes the real deal. (So good I was inspired enough to go from just noodling around with the sounds to composing a full blown soul epic within minutes!!!) No far from being a toy, this is several gigabytes, 12 or more (much more in some instances) multi-samples per note, recorded at 24bit with the kind of attention to detail only grooming baboons show one another!... The blurb I've read mentions that the actual instruments were painstakingly restored over several months before the recordings for the library were made and boy can you hear it!! " - Ola Onabule

Ola released his first single "You'd Better Believe" in the summer of '94 to instant critical acclaim soon followed by strong radio support. playlisted on Jazz FM, Kiss FM, choice FM and many other local radio stations, licensed to several compilations and synched to a couple of films and TV programs. OLA seized the moment to release his first album "More Soul Than Sense" to equally positive response.

OLA's recording career has since spawned three other well received albums. "From Meaning Beyond Definition" (1997), "Precious Libations for Silent Gods" (1999), and the brand new album for 2002 "Ambitions For Deeper Breadth". OLA's albums serve to seal his reputation as a highly talented singer songwriter and producer as well as an exciting and energetic stage performer.

I compared the recordings of the Wurly on my new album to the Scarbee E.E.P., I could hear the difference all right. One, our original keyboard, was a hum riddled, crackly, just barely in tune sound, while the other the Scarbee E.E.P., was a gorgeously clean Hi resolution version of our recorded Wurli, complete with all the incidental sounds the instrument makes such as the sounds of the hammers coming away from the tines!... and Yes! you guessed right all the samples have been allowed to decay naturally (Sometimes over 20 seconds!) with no looping whatsoever! I mean, who records with that sort of obsessive attention to detail? Scarbee of course, the new soul, funk and fusion musicians' best friend!!! - Ola Onabule

Visit Ola Onabules official website www.olasmusic.com