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Mwalim DaPhunkee Professor

Mwalim DaPhunkee Professor is a multi-award-winning soul-funk-jazz singer, songwriter, pianist and producer.

About Me

“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.

My Jazz Story

I love jazz because it gave me a musical vocabulary that allows me to travel the world, if not the universe. Thanks to having gone to Music & Art High School/ LaGuardia in the 1980s, my classmates were folks like Charnett Moffett, Stephen Scott, Preston Fulwood, and Jay Rodriguez. Through the school I got to meet and jam with Dizzy Gillespie. I studied piano with Barry Harris, and got to meet Horace Silver, Wynton Marsalis, Herbie Hancock, Eddie Gomez, Ron Carter, Sr. and Ron Carter, Jr., I also met Maceo Parker, and a bunch of other legends. The best show I ever attended was... my own ;-) The first jazz record I bought was Chicken Shack by Jimmy Smith. My advice to new listeners start with "The Corner" and work your way back.