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“It’s a warm evening in a Cambridge, MA coffeehouse, a small crowd of customers sit around the small café tables, or towards the back on the over-stuffed couches and love seats. Their conversations and entries into their laptops and Blackberries slowly fade into an attentive silence as the descending riff of a Nord reproduced Hammond organ calls the room to order. A rich, powerfully soulful voice belts out an opening riff over the groove filled game of call and response between his left and right hands on the keyboard. Mwalim opens his set with a rendition of Bobby Caldwell’s “What You Won’t Do For Love” that has the entire room bobbing their heads and tapping their feet.”

<!--[if !supportLists]-->-         <!--[endif]-->Gary Strong, Back Bay Review

Mwalim is the type of soul artist who embodies the time-honored tradition of the multifaceted singer, songwriter and producer. Considered the Godfather of the South coast Soul Movement (referring to the Southern region of New England, encompassing Massachusetts, Rhode Island and Connecticut), Mwalim emerged from the east coast small club circuit, followed by several years lending his talents to other artists projects and a writer, musician, producer, and remixer, adding his ‘Mwalimadelic’ soul-touch to numerous remix compilations. Some might consider it to be an ominous sign of the times when people think of a remix artist or dance music producer, the last thing they often think of is a singer and songwriter from the coffeehouse circuit. “A lot of my music is based on grooves, even the laid-back coffeehouse stuff.”

Mwalim has shared the stage with The Four Tops, King Britt, The Last Poets, KRS –ONE, and Angie Stone, small gigs and venues like this are among his favorites kinds of gigs. “I get to test my material in the rawest form in gigs like this: just me and my keys.” It was years ago that my grandfather (late big band jazz band leader and arranger, Allan H. Nurse) told me that it’s only a good song if it sounds good on just a piano or guitar. The rest is dressing.”

Already causing a street-level buzz with his single DEM BIG GIRLS, Mwalim’s forthcoming album, The Liberation Sessions: Soul of the City (Liberation Music - MGM) is an eclectically funky, soulful party record featuring Mwalim’s prowess as composer, arranger, producer, and musician. Featuring collaborations and soul-jazz remixes of recordings featuring his friends: vocalists like Amaris, Phillip Aaron, and Robert Taylor, Jr.; world-class MC Tah Phrum Duh Bush; conscious hip-hop artist, Tem-Blessed; internationally renowned spoken-word artist Tantra Zawadi; and Kalyana Champlain.

A semi-veteran of the music industry, Mwalim did a stint at a major-label affiliated indie as a staff producer and arranger after his self-released, underground hit of 2000 “Thief in the Night” (Midnight Groove/ OTC) sold a respectable 13,000 copies, followed by a vinyl only E.P “Jazzy-Soul Club Grooves” (Midnight Groove Records), established Mwalim as an artist among Acid Jazz, Rare-Groove and House Music and Djs and fans world-wide. After a ‘bid’ as he calls it, Mwalim returned his attentions to being an independent artist, building his own brand, Liberation Music – MGM and releasing the critically acclaimed, Sketches of a Neighborhood (Liberation Music – MGM, 2008) by The Bass Mint Bros, featuring Mwalim’s work as a pianist/ organist, composer and producer.

With a steady stream of gigs and appearances, a growing roster of artists and clients on his label and a uniquely appealing sound and style, we can expect a steady stream of quality work from this artist.