NINE Things To Know About Mwalim
Mwalim has been studying music since the age of 10, starting with the viola. He is formally trained in both classical and jazz. He is a fourth generation musician on his mother’s side.
Mwalim’s first instrument was the viola. He performed at Carnegie Hall with an orchestra before the age of 14. He started studying piano and composition with his grandfather, the noted jazz arranger, band leader, and producer for Southern and Decca Records, Allan Nurse.
Mwalim went to Music & Art High School (LaGuardia) in New York City. He earned his BA in Music and MS in Film from Boston University. He earned an MFA in Writing from Goddard College.
Mwalim started doing studio session work in 1985 at age 16, playing viola and violin on a project for EMI Records; and a year later doing keyboards for some projects at Jazzy Jay Recording Studio. Having done session work throughout the eastern sea board, he appears on over 300 released and unreleased recordings.
Mwalim released his first solo project, “Her Groove” in 1990 on his own Midnight Groove Recordings label after turning down offers from three independent labels that offered ‘shady’ contracts. Mwalim’s 2000 release of “Thief in the Night” and his follow-up E.P. “Jazzy-Soul Club Grooves” led to a major record deal in 2002 that Mwalim eventually walked away from due to the ‘creative and financial constraints of the deal.’
Mwalim co-founded the soul-funk band The GroovaLottos in 2009 with veteran Motown session player, James Wolf, and veteran touring drummer, Eddie Ray Johnson (passed away in June 2020) as a way to get back into the music business on their own terms. He wrote all of the songs on the band’s 2017 debut album, “Ask Yo’ Mama” -which was released on Mwalim’s label- and received 6 Grammy nominations and airplay throughout the USA and Canada.
Mwalim opened Polyphonic Studios in 2020 as a recording studio and content creation company. He and his team have cultivated the basis of the Southcoast Thump & Soul sound in this studio during the COVID-19 lockdown.
Mwalim is also a writer with over 25 produced plays and performance pieces, a short-story collection, a novel, and numerous published poems, short stories, and essays to his credits.
Mwalim is a tenured professor of English & Communications and Black Studies at UMass Dartmouth and has been a teacher of the performing arts and creative writing for over 35 years.
BIO:
The Maestro
“It’s about telling stories with and without words… melodies, grooves, moods, and occasionally, lyrics.”
MWALIM DaPhunkee Professor views his work as a composer/ musician/ vocalist/ producer, as an extension of his world as a master storyteller. An accomplished and multi-award-winning composer, pianist, percussionist, violist, and vocalist; his years as a session player, and producer have empowered him with the musical shape-shifting abilities to slide in and out of genres with ease and grace.
MWALIM’s music is a soulful, engulfing experience of lush harmonies, flowing grooves, and funky foundations. Aside from his numerous, anonymous contributions to recordings as a session player, band director, and remixer over the last 35+ years; along with his work as a solo artist, as well as his role as the keyboardist and a vocalist with the multi-Grammy nominated soul-funk ensemble, The GroovaLottos have earned Mwalim the additional moniker, the Godfather of Southcoast Thump & Soul, a reference to the Southcoast region of Massachusetts where he resides and creates. He calls his creative process and output “Bronx Boheme” in honor of his place of physical birth and creative development.
A Jazz Musician Among DJs
In the vast world of EDM where DJs dominate the scene as creators and producers, an old-school musician/composer is a unique find. “When I started making house and club music, we were still using real pianos and percussion, and make loops from them as a cheat. Sampling was still a relatively new concept.”
Cutting his teeth in European classical, Black American jazz, and Afro-Caribbean music, Mwalim’s journey into House and Afrobeat started as a teenager -around the same time that he was studying piano with Barry Harris and hanging at the after-hours at the Blue Note and the Jazz Cultural Theatre- he also got into the legendary Paradise Garage and encountered the amazing work of the late, great Larry Levan. “The music and the vibe were immediately addictive. It was also cool hanging in a club where there was no pressure, just dancing and great grooves.” Creatively, the young artist found that fusing house and club music with jazz was a natural fit.
live bands,” Mwalim recalls, “Now-a-days when I do a show and come in with a keyboard and hand percussion, unless it’s with one of the old school, deep soul or Afro House DJs, most of the young cats don’t know what to do. I even once had a DJ suggest that I turn my keyboard parts into loops so they can be controlled with one of those boxes with the pads,” He says with a laugh, “how do you pre-program an improvised piano solo?”
Currently, as the owner and head of production at Polyphonic Studios in Wareham, MA, and subsequently Poly-Groove Records where he oversees a roster of Thump & Soul acts that release music on a monthly basis in the genres of soul, jazz, rock, hip-hop, edm, and Afrobeat.
For artists and bands seeking production, you can Book a Consultation HERE
While in college, Mwalim started his own label (Midnight Groove Recordings) to release and promote his own club music recordings. Obtaining a distribution deal with MTI Distribution (now defunct), Mwalim scored international recognition with his 1990 release of “Her Groove”, followed by a steady stream of jazzy house, soul, and Afrobeat cuts, projects, and collaborations.
A regular visitor and occasional performer at legendary house and dance clubs and gatherings around New England, New York City, and the DMV; Mwalim fondly recalls showing up to sessions with instruments -keyboards and a djembe, or conga- and jamming along with the grooves. “The scene was very organic in those days. Some house music gatherings would have
POLY-GROOVE RECORDS (PGR) is a label formed in 2023 by as an outlet for the in-house productions of Polyphonic Studios; focusing on creating ‘The Sound of a Good Time!’ as created by the various bands and performers of the Southern New England Region. [LEARN MORE]