Etuk Ubong Philosophy Band

Performed on festivals
like Roskilde, Sines,
Jazzahead and Womex.

Reflecting the urgency of his messages, Etuk Ubong’s fast-paced channelling of Afrobeat, highlife, and jazz – encompassing echoes of Ellingtonian intricacy, blue period Miles, Coltrane transcendence, the roots rebirth of Masekela and the visceral Afrocentrism of Archie Shepp – all inspired by the ancestral presence of Ekombi ritual drumming, creates a unique confluence of musical and spiritual questing.

It’s a quest that has seen him pursuing jazz and classical music studies in trumpet and piano, as well as experiences playing with such luminaries as Victor Olaiya, Femi Kuti, the Gangbé Brass Band, Pat Harbison and Nduduzo Makhathini. Today, the soft-spoken ambassador is taking his message of love, peace and African self-reliance to the world. Already a high-profile figure on the London scene, he has also been leaving breathless audiences in his wake around Europe. Earth music.

Etuk Ubong is a
Nigerian trumpeter,
composer, and bandleader.

Etuk Ubong has “a fabulous sound, richly structured and generous,” and according to London Jazz News, is “a fresh new voice on the international jazz scene.” Born in Nigeria in 1992, Ubong performed in a BBC live broadcast of the London Jazz Festival in 2019. Ubong draws inspiration from the great names of jazz as well as from Afrobeat, highlife, and ekombi.
Born and raised in Lagos, trumpeter Etuk Ubong began playing music at the age of 14 and studied with Etop Adolphors and Victor Ademofe. He studied jazz at the Peter King College of Music and classical music at the Muson School of Music in Lagos. Ubong has performed with world-renowned musicians such as Victor Olaiya, Femi Kuti, the Gangbé Brass Band, Pat Harbison, Ansyn Banks, Nduduzo Makhathini, and many others. He played at the 2015 Lagos Jazz Festival, the 2015 Abuja Jazz Festival, and in the On Mass Project led by Jamie Cullum at the London Jazz Festival. He is a member of the International Trumpet Guild and represented Africa at the 2015 conference in Columbus. In South Africa, he performs regularly at leading jazz venues such as The Crypt, Straight No Chaser, and The Orbit, and was a soloist at the 2016 Artscape Youth Jazz Festival.
He leads the Etuk Ubong Quartet, with which he performs jazz standards and his own compositions, and also regularly collaborates with other bands and ensembles. In South Africa, the quartet consists of himself on trumpet and flugelhorn, Shakeel Cullis on double bass, Ludwe Danxa on keyboards, and Keno Carelse on drums; in Lagos, he is accompanied by Ita Samson on bass, Timothy Ogunbiyi on keyboards, and Tombrapade Robert on drums.
His first EP, Miracle, was released in June 2016 and features original compositions that reflect his message of benevolence, peace, and love for humanity.
Although still relatively new to the scene, he has already collaborated with some of the leading figures in London’s jazz world, performs regularly at the legendary Steam Down Series, and enjoys the support of Gilles Peterson, with whom he has played at Peterson’s inaugural festival, We Out Here, and performed at the London Jazz Festival at the Royal Albert Hall.