This multitalented musician is a 2005 Juno award winner and a double winner at TAMA (Toronto African Music Awards) for Best Release and Best New Performers in 1997. Adam was born in Mombasa, Kenya, and began performing at an early age, playing kivoti (flute) and kayaamba (shaker) at village celebrations and festivals.
He established his career playing lead guitar and singing on recordings and videos with Kenya's most popular bands and musicians, including Joseph Kamaru, Daudi Kabaka, Zetta success band, Kabasselleh Ochieng', Bana Citoyen, Super Kalles, Bana Batotot, Super Mazembe, Les Wanyika, Popo Lipo of LessaLessan, Professor Naaman with the Nine stars band, Kanda Bongo Man, Fadhili Williams, Juma Toto, and the Mombasa Roots band.
Adam was a co-founder of Canada's great pan-African band, the Afronubians, with whom he toured western Canada in 1993.
He collaborated with them for two CD releases, "Tour to Africa" 1994 and "The Great Africans" ,1995. Adam collaborated on Shaw Do Man's release “Trouble Trouble†1994, also on “Tae Kwarro†CD in the year 2000 by Achilla Orru. He has released two of his own CDs, "Safari" (Afro-pop) in Nov 1996 and "Rocket Express II" (African Renaissance Blues) in Nov 2003. Adam's touring credits include workshops and performances with Congolese superstar Papa Wemba and Ismael Lo from Senegal. Adam formed his own band, Tikisa, in 1995, and in 2004 established Adam's Blues Band. He also performs solo.
In conjunction with the CBC, Adam has collaborated with a group of pan-African musicians (including Madagascar Slim and Donne, Pa Jo, Alpha Yaya Diallo and The Mighty Popo), culminating with the release of the "African Guitar Summit" CD in 2004, which has garnered them the Juno Awards nomination.
Adam has also done several live recordings with the CBC, and has toured extensively across Canada, performing at music festivals as varied as Afrofest and the Toronto Street Festival, Whistler Festival Winnipeg Folk Festival, Montreal Jazz Festival, and the Blues Summit for the Toronto Blues Society. He's done work for the Toronto International Film Festival, and participated in documentaries including "The Immigrants" (produced by Jack Orlando) and "Jambo Kenya" (produced by Lalita Krishna & Insync Video).
To honour Black History month celebrations, Adam has become a valuable contributor to cultural education through music and storytelling, presenting interactive programs at universities, schools, and libraries. Retaining his roots in traditional music, Adam's compositions embrace a wide variety of African rhythms, from traditional soukous, highlife, and reggae to samba, bossanova and rhumba.
On his latest African Renaissance Blues CD release, Adam returns the blues to the African continent where it originated with African slaves. The effortless manner with which he controls the guitar so that it sings with him exemplifies the talent of this East African native. Adam's style of guitar playing is renaissance because it carefully fuses the Mississippi Delta blues style of BB King and Muddy Waters while highlighting the African blues style.
Adam sings in six languages, including Swahili, English, and Arabic.
"The Professor", as he is known in musical circles, is highly respected as a lead guitarist and vocalist. In addition, he is experienced as a bass and rhythm guitar player, and is facile on the keyboard and percussion instruments. He also performs with his four piece blues.
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