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Olu Dara
Olu Dara
Birth name	Charles Jones III
Born	January 12, 1941 (age 83); Louisville, Mississippi, U.S.
Origin	Natchez, Mississippi, U.S.
Genres	Jazz
Occupations	Musician; songwriter;
Instrument(s)	Vocals, guitar, cornet, trumpet, harmonica, drums, percussion
Years active	1964–present
Labels	Atlantic Records

Olu Dara Jones (born Charles Jones III; January 12, 1941) is an American cornetist, guitarist, and singer. He is the father of rapper Nas.

Early life

Olu Dara was born Charles Jones III on January 12, 1941, in Natchez, Mississippi.^[1]^[2] His mother, Ella Mae Jones, was born in Canton, Mississippi. His father, Charlie R Jones, born in Natchez,^[2] was a traveling musician, and sang with The Melodiers, a vocal quartet with a guitarist.^[3]

As a child, Dara took piano and clarinet lessons. He studied at Tennessee State University, initially a pre-med major, switching to music theory and composition.^[3]

Career

From 1959 to 1964 he was a musician in the Navy, which he described as a priceless educational experience.^[3]

In 1964, he moved to New York City and changed his name to Olu Dara,^[4]^[5] which means "The Lord is good" in the Yoruba language.^[5] In the 1970s and '80s he played alongside David Murray, Henry Threadgill, Hamiet Bluiett, Don Pullen, Charles Brackeen, James Blood Ulmer, and Cassandra Wilson. He formed two bands, the Okra Orchestra and the Natchezsippi Dance Band.^[1]^[4]

His first album, In the World: From Natchez to New York (1998), revealed another aspect of his musical personality: the leader and singer of a band immersed in African-American tradition, playing an eclectic mix of blues, jazz, and storytelling, with tinges of funk, African popular music, and reggae. His second album Neighborhoods, with guest appearances by Dr. John and Cassandra Wilson, followed in a similar vein.

Dara played on the album Illmatic (1994) by his son, rapper Nas, and on the song "Dance" (2002), also by Nas, and he sang on Nas's songs "Bridging the Gap" and "Street's Disciple" (2004).^[5]

Discography

As leader

In the World: From Natchez to New York (Atlantic, 1998)
Neighborhoods (Atlantic, 2001)

With Material

Memory Serves (1981)
The Third Power (1991)

As sideman

With Charles Brackeen

1987 Attainment (Silkheart)
1987 Worshippers Come Nigh (Silkheart)

With Rhys Chatham

1984 Factor X
1987 Die Donnergötter (The Thundergods)

With Carlos Garnett

1975 Let This Melody Ring On (Muse)
1977 Fire

With Corey Harris

2002 Downhome Sophisticate
2005 Daily Bread

With Craig Harris

1985 Tributes (OTC)
1999 Cold Sweat Plays J. B. (JMT)

With David Murray

Flowers for Albert: The Complete Concert (India Navigation, 1976)
Ming (Black Saint, 1980)
Home (Black Saint, 1981)
Live at Sweet Basil Volume 1 (Black Saint, 1984)
Live at Sweet Basil Volume 2 (Black Saint, 1984)
The Tip (DIW, 1995)
Jug-A-Lug (DIW, 1995)

With Nas

1994 Illmatic
2002 God's Son
2004 Bridging the Gap
2004 Street's Disciple

With Jamaaladeen Tacuma

1983 Show Stopper
1984 Renaissance Man

With Henry Threadgill

1982 When Was That?
1983 Just the Facts and Pass the Bucket

With James Blood Ulmer

Are You Glad to Be in America? (1980)
Free Lancing (1981)
No Escape from the Blues: The Electric Lady Sessions (2003)

With Cassandra Wilson

With others

1970 Journey to Air, Terumasa Hino
1970 Who Knows What Tomorrow's Gonna Bring?, Jack McDuff
1973 Ethnic Expressions, Roy Brooks
1973 Revelation, Doug Carn
1975 Heavy Spirits, Oliver Lake
1977 Endangered Species, Hamiet Bluiett
1978 Live at Moers Festival, Phillip Wilson
1980 Flat-Out Jump Suite, Julius Hemphill
1982 Flying Out, Cecil McBee
1982 Nots, Elliott Sharp
1983 Nona, Nona Hendryx
1984 "Conjure - Music For The Texts Of Ishmael Reed", Conjure
1985 The African Flower, James Newton
1985 The Sixth Sense, Don Pullen
1993 Deconstruction: The Celluloid Recordings, Bill Laswell
1997 KC After Dark, Kansas City Band
1998 Empire Box, Tim Berne
1998 You Don't Know My Mind, Guy Davis
2002 Medicated Magic, Dirty Dozen Brass Band
2002 Trance Atlantic (Boom Bop II), Jean-Paul Bourelly
2003 Chinatown, The Be Good Tanyas
2007 The Harlem Experiment, The Harlem Experiment
2007 This Is Where You Wanna Be, The Brawner Brothers^[6]
2021 The Boyé Multi-National Crusade for Harmony, Julius Hemphill

References

^ ^a ^b Dara, Olu (Winter 1998). "Olu Dara". Bomb (Interview). No. 62. Interviewed by Tracie Morris. Archived from the original on December 8, 2009 – via bombsite.com.
^ ^a ^b Gates, Henry Louis Jr. (October 29, 2014). "Nas' Interactive Family Tree". Finding Your Roots. PBS. Archived from the original on December 10, 2015.
^ ^a ^b ^c Skelly, Richard J. (January 30, 2002). "Olu Dara's Trip: From Natchez to New York". U.S. 1. Retrieved December 4, 2020.
^ ^a ^b Kelsey, Chris. "Olu Dara". AllMusic. Retrieved October 31, 2017.
^ ^a ^b ^c Dreisinger, Baz (December 5, 2004). "Nas and His Dad's Jazz". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved October 31, 2017.
^ "Olu Dara | Credits | AllMusic". AllMusic. Retrieved October 31, 2017.