Mwalim

Mwalim is a true Gemini. Aside from his Black and Native ancestry (mother's family from Barbados, father's family are Mashpee Wampanoags), his artistic duality contributes to his being one of the more interesting and enigmatic artists of the neo - soul movement, as well as the state-side acid jazz scene. He is a composer, lyricist, singer and musician (piano, keyboards, viola, African percussion), whose first efforts in composition, at age 14, resulted in a string quartet based on a children's melody from Ghana, West Africa. From those beginnings, Mwalim evolved into a master composer, producer and performer of high quality soul, jazz and club music that he calls Jazzy-soul. Born and raised in the Bronx, New York and Mashpee, Massachusetts, he grew up exposed to a variety of musical influences, including classical, jazz, blues, soul, hip-hop, Latin, Native American, Caribbean and West African. He was dubbed a musical shaman by music journalist Michael Berman, because the intoxicating, feel good vibes of his music.

Mwalim's influences include Donny Hathaway, Marvin Gaye, Thelonius Monk, Mongo Santamaria, Jimmy Smith, Baba Olatunje, Charles Mingus, Al Greene, Wilson Pickett, The Dramatics and Parliament Funkadelic. Growing up along side the development of Hip-hop, from the parks of the Bronx, some of Mwalim's early musical experiments as a teen included playing bebop and jazz tunes over break-beats spun by a D.J., leading to jam session performances at the legendary Paradise Garage and Shelter night clubs in New York City.

Mwalim has performed throughout the country as well as Canada, the U.K and France. His live performances continually capture the attention and imagination of an eclectic audience of real music lovers all over the globe. Mwalim (whose name means 'teacher' in Arabic) has performed with a host of artists, such as The Last Poets, the late Betty Carter, The Four Tops, Junior Walker and the All-Stars band, Baba Olatunje, The Mighty Mighty Bosstones, Hugh Masakala, The Indigo Girls, The Jungle Brothers, Phish and KRS-ONE. Mwalim holds a BA in Music from Boston University.

His vinyl - only E.P. "Jazzy-Soul Club Grooves", became an instant favorite of underground club D.J's across the globe, mixing Mwalim's unique sound into their house, acid jazz and rare groove sets. His artistic dexterity is also apparent in his performance settings, ranging from solo singer / songwriter sets in coffeehouses, as well as performing with a six-piece band. His stages have included theaters, museums, festivals, libraries, churches, street corners and arenas.

Mwalim's artistic and professional goals are to simply continue writing and playing good music as well as collaborating with other quality artists on their projects, adding his jazzy-soul influence as a writer and producer on their projects. It is without a doubt that this talented young artist is destined to be one of the architects of a new era of Black music.