BBC Radio 3 to air Etuk Ubong gig in London

The radio session is part of the EFG London Jazz Festival, which takes place at various venues in the British capital from 15 to 24 November. Ubong's performance will be broadcast live from the Royal Institute of British Architects on the festival's opening night, where BBC Radio 3 presenter Jumoké Fashola will be the host.

Trombonist Rosie Turton and Madison McFerrin, the daughter of Bobby McFerrin, will also perform on the same night as Ubong.

Ubong, who spoke to Music in Africa while on tour in August, has had a busy 2019, taking his music to Europe throughout the summer, featuring at Joy of Jazz festival in Johannesburg, South Africa, last month, and playing at the recently concluded Felabration festival in Lagos, Nigeria.

"I am elated and it is a great gig that myself and the Etuk Philosophy band are looking forward to," Ubong told Music In Africa. "Although it's not my first time on BBC Radio, as I have been on Gilles Peterson before, I believe that this one will be a very special one.

"I will be performing my new 10-inch single with the Night Dreamers Record label, which will be released worldwide in early November. A few years ago, Femi Kuti played Afrobeat at the Festival and now I'm playing earth music at the same festival. I am happy that the Nigerian live music community is being embraced globally."

Earth music is the name Ubong has given to his eclectic genre, which fuses Afrobeat, highlife, jazz and ekombi.

EFG London Jazz Festival began in 1992, emerging from the long-standing Camden Jazz Week, which was launched in 1970. It aims to "celebrate the place of jazz in a city which is at ease with its rich cultural diversity, and drawing in a multitude of venues across London," the festival says on its website. 

Tickets to the event are available here.