Press release: Brussels-based quartet OLA TUNJI channel the intensity and openness of the 1960s “New Thing” movement on debut album

Fused around saxophonist Ornella Noulet and a shared devotion to the spiritual jazz of John Coltrane, OLA TUNJI is a Brussels-based quartet whose music channels the intensity and openness of the 1960s “New Thing” movement.

Their name pays homage to Babatunde Olatunji, the Nigerian-born percussionist and close friend of John Coltrane, who introduced African drumming to jazz audiences in the U.S. and helped shape the rhythmic and spiritual dimensions of 1960’s jazz. For OLA TUNJI, his legacy represents the power of music as a path toward connection, awareness, and transcendence.

Deeply inspired by John and Alice Coltrane, Pharoah Sanders, and Albert Ayler, the group embraces improvisation as a political and spiritual act. On stage, their performances often take on a trance-like intensity, carrying musicians and audience alike toward a sense of shared elevation. The music becomes a reminder that it can still be a medium for love, sister and brotherhood, and collective uplift.

OLA TUNJI released their debut ‘Untitled’ EP in 2024, which received widespread acclaim including support from Bandcamp Daily among others. In the summer of 2025, OLA TUNJI won both the jury and public prizes at Gent Jazz Talent, as well as the Avignon Jazz Festival competition. Debut album ‘TRUST’ is set for release on the 16th October via W.E.R.F. Records.

The quartet are set to open for Shabaka at Ancienne Belgique in Brussels on the 25th September.