Work samples

  • In The Wild | Udobi | Live Studio Performance

    “In The Wild” is the foundation of the entire album. Its rhythm draws from Afrobeat, while the melody reflects the classical music I was learning during my early development as a pianist. Bringing those influences together gave me a way to express the intensity of my childhood in Aba, Nigeria.

    The composition is deliberately aggressive and technically demanding. Its energy and complexity reflect the chaos of the environment I grew up in, where everyday life existed alongside violence and uncertainty. I wanted the music to carry the tension I remember feeling as a child, before I had the words to explain what was happening around me.

    Writing “In The Wild” allowed me to return to those memories as an adult and give them a musical form. It became the starting point for the album, establishing both its sound and its emotional direction.

    Composition: Hope Udobi Nwachukwu (Udobi).
    Live studio performance. Duration: 6:17.

    Available for Purchase

About Hope Udobi

Baltimore City  

Udobi is the professional name of Washington, D.C. born pianist, composer, producer, and songwriter Hope Udobi Nwachukwu. Drawing from contemporary jazz, classical music, soul, hip hop, and cinematic composition, he has developed a distinctive musical voice shaped by both his American roots and formative childhood years in Nigeria.

A versatile international performer, Udobi has worked with artists including Jeff “Tain” Watts, Bobby Watson, Delfeayo Marsalis, Mary J. Blige, Common,… more

View Hope Udobi's Resume
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In The Wild: Original Compositions and Live Performances

Selected press
“It’s hard to overstate the immediate staying power of the main motif of ‘In the Wild.’”
Michael J. West, Washington City Paper, June 28, 2019

“Udobi fronted a superb quartet that highlighted his sleek originals from a forthcoming disc.”
John Murph, DownBeat, October 18, 2018. Review of the Hope Udobi Quartet at Hillfest.

In The Wild is my album of original compositions. These live performances bring its music into conversation with the experiences behind it: childhood in Nigeria, separation from my parents, and the search for belonging after returning to America.

The title composition looks back on my years in Aba, where everyday family life unfolded alongside violence and uncertainty. Lost turns inward, tracing the disorientation of moving between two countries and spending five years apart from my parents during their divorce. Its 6/4 meter and entirely minor harmony give musical form to that unsettled feeling.

I approach these pieces as a pianist and composer, drawing on jazz, soul, hip hop, and the sounds I carry from childhood. Composition gives the memories a shape; improvisation lets me revisit them in the present. These performances show how the music continues to develop through listening and interaction.

Music and further performances: https://www.udobi.com
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@udobimusic

Listen to the complete album
In The Wild on Apple Music
Released April 26, 2019. Ten original compositions. District Company Records.

Album credits
Compositions, piano and keyboards: Hope Udobi Nwachukwu (Udobi).
Executive producer: Zack Dawson.
Mixing on tracks 1, 3, 4 and 8: Jimmy “The Senator” Douglass.
Mastering: Punching Dolphins.
Recorded at Beyond Studios in Washington, D.C. and New York.
Complete album personnel and track credits

  • In The Wild | Udobi | Live Studio Performance

    “In The Wild” is the foundation of the entire album. Its rhythm draws from Afrobeat, while the melody reflects the classical music I was learning during my early development as a pianist. Bringing those influences together gave me a way to express the intensity of my childhood in Aba, Nigeria.

    The composition is deliberately aggressive and technically demanding. Its energy and complexity reflect the chaos of the environment I grew up in, where everyday life existed alongside violence and uncertainty. I wanted the music to carry the tension I remember feeling as a child, before I had the words to explain what was happening around me.

    Writing “In The Wild” allowed me to return to those memories as an adult and give them a musical form. It became the starting point for the album, establishing both its sound and its emotional direction.

    Composition: Hope Udobi Nwachukwu (Udobi).
    Live studio performance. Duration: 6:17.

    Available for Purchase
  • Lost

    “Lost” comes from the experience of feeling out of place in both countries I called home. Moving to Nigeria meant adjusting to a different culture. Returning to America five years later meant starting that adjustment again. During those years, my parents’ divorce had left me living with my cousins, trying to understand their absence.

    I wrote the piece in 6/4, extending the measure beyond the familiar four beats. I wanted that longer rhythmic cycle to suggest the uncertainty of searching for somewhere to settle. Every chord is minor, sustaining the darkness I associate with that period.

    The piece gives me a way to express the confusion I carried through those moves: being surrounded by family, missing my parents, and struggling to feel that I belonged.

    Composition: Hope Udobi Nwachukwu (Udobi).
    Live studio performance. Duration: 5:44.

    Available for Purchase
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    • Resignation and Midnight Melancholy: Live Piano Performance

    This live studio performance pairs my interpretation of Brad Mehldau’s Resignation with Midnight Melancholy, my own composition, which closes the performance.

    Piano: Udobi (Hope Udobi Nwachukwu).
    Resignation composed by Brad Mehldau.
    Midnight Melancholy composed by Udobi.

    Full performance: 9 minutes, 34 seconds.

    • Resignation Cover and Midnight Melancholy | Udobi Live in Studio

      Udobi performs Brad Mehldau’s Resignation live in studio, then closes with Midnight Melancholy, an original Udobi composition.

      Piano: Hope Udobi Nwachukwu (Udobi).
      Resignation: composition by Brad Mehldau.
      Midnight Melancholy: composition by Udobi.
      Duration: 9:34.

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    In The Wild: Live at Blues Alley

    A live performance of my original composition In The Wild at Blues Alley in Washington, D.C.

    Composition and piano: Hope Udobi Nwachukwu (Udobi).
    Duration: 8:28.

    • In The Wild | Udobi Live at Blues Alley

      A live performance of my original composition In The Wild at Blues Alley in Washington, D.C.

      Performance credits
      Composition and piano: Hope Udobi Nwachukwu (Udobi).
      Keyboards: Noble Jolley.
      Drums: Charles Wilson.
      Trumpet: Theljon Allen.
      Tenor saxophone: Elijah Easton.
      Bass: Reginald Payne.
      Duration: 8:28.

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