2007 JUNO NOMINEE!!
2005 JUNO AWARD WINNER!!
African Renaissance Blues (2003) Juno Award winner 2005:
Adam performed with AGS at Live 8 on July 2nd, make poverty history- in Barrie, Ontario, Canada
On his latest album African Renaissance Blues, Adam (Professor) Solomon 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, adding a second voice to the piece, exemplifies the talent of this East African native. In African Renaissance Blues, Adam, has resurrected an art form, which is alive in West Africa thanks to a luminary like Ali Farka Toure, but is almost extinct on
the east coast of Africa where the preferred music is soukous.
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-the rippling, almost repetitive guitar resists
moving forward in a linear fashion towards a definite conclusion, instead making circular movements, doubling back on a riff here and a riff there until it reaches an intoxicating climax. Listen to Farmer's Blues and you
will notice Adam's playful inventive talent, which allows him to dart in and out of R&B, a bit of jazz and even a snatch of soukous while steadfastly remaining true to the blues. It's a talent, it's a triumph, and it's a
beautiful album for endless listening.
By Opiyo Oloya
New Release MTI WA MAISHA (Tree Of Life) available on Cdbaby. www.adamsolomon.ca
See live videos:
www.myspace.com/adamsolomontikisa
www.adamsolomon.ca
COMING SOON TO CDBABY.COM ****
ALBUM TITTLE: MILA “CULTURE”
2005 Juno Award Winner with African Guitar Summit on CBC records, and Double Winner at Toronto Music Africa Awards 1997 in Canada ****.
Adam N. Solomon AKA “The Professor” has been known to the listeners and fans around the world as an Afropop musician since the 70's, performing Afro Rhumba and Soukous music.In the year 2003 he recorded his fast solo Album “African Renaissance Blues Rocket Express II” which fetured acoustic blues. Adam is gone deeper in researching his traditional African roots music, playing African blues on acoustic guitar,traditional African drumming, and singing. Like the likes of Alifarka Toure from Mali, this East Africa Maestro of guitar brings out his inner vision and talent that was unheard in the world of music. Adam grew up in a musical family in Kenya east Africa in the coast Province, he is original from the Nine tribes known as the “Mijikenda”.
“The Mijikenda tribes of the Kenyan coast were unheard from for many years, even during the colonial years of rule, primarily due to the fact that government activities were occurring mainly in the central province, in Nairobi, and the Mijikenda were literally on the edges. Kenya gained independence in 1963. The first President was Jomo Kenyatta, who came from the Gikuyu tribe, which is a Bantu group like the Mijikenda. The people of the central province are Gikuyu, Embu, the Maasai, the Nandi (a different group of tribes), and the Meru, which ruled the plains of the Rift Valley. It's assumed that the tribes of the Rift Valley threw off their drums when they were fighting during an immigration period coming down from Ethiopia, and during the time when they were establishing their territories in the Rift Valley. From the same group of Bantus, the Mijikenda, who also emigrated from Ethiopia, kept their big traditional drums, and the traditions have continued until today”.
“The Bantus of the coast, the Nine Tribes, include Giriama, Duruma, Makonde, Kambe, Ribe, Rabai, Chonyi, Digo, and Jibana, who originally settled in the lower coastal province of Kenya. I am half-caste Duruma and Giriama. The musical style known as Sengenya beat comes from both the Duruma and Digo people, and Lungo music is originally from the Giriama and Duruma people”.
“Like the peoples of West Africa, we have developed our own rhythms and some of our drums are similar, but not all. We have the Twari drum, which is a two-sided medium-sized drum and has a mid-rhythmic tone. The same Twari drum can be used for soloing or keep the rhythm. The Twari drums come in different tones, medium bass, light bass, and heavy bass. There is the Chitupho drum, which has a higher tone, closer to the West African Djembe drum, and it can be used for different purposes in the rhythm. The Ng'ombe Drum, known as the mother of the drums, is huge and very bass, shaped like a table with three or four legs. This drum can bring a wall down if not well-supported. The Ng'ombe drum is pure wood and cowskin (Ng'ombe = cowskin), played with heavy sticks with a round end, while wearing small ankle and wrist bells and shakers, particularly the Kayamba tikisa (shaker) made of grass straw, and other small percussion instruments”.
PERFORMANCES:
PETOSKEY, MI-USA
WASHINGTON DC -USA
MARQUETTE, MI - USA
DENNOS MUSEUM, TRAVERSE CITY MI-USA
Salmon Arm Roots & Blues Festival, BC
Mont Tremblant International Blues Festival, QC
(BIA at Greek Town) Sounds of The Danforth, Toronto, ON
TD Downtown JAzz Festival, Toronto Downtown jazz, ON
The Silver Dollar Room, Toronto, ON
Healey's Club, Toronto, ON
The Rivoli, Toronto, ON
Vancouver Island Festival, Comox, BC
Live Recording, CBC Radio, Vancouver, BC
African Guitar summit cd release by CBC radio Canada/inc with music Africa,venue Lula Lounge, Toronto, ON
Cross Canada Tour/ and the US
African History month, Toronto public Libraries
to read more about Adam Solomon please click on Adam Solomon website on the left side of this page..
NEW RELEASE "ROOTS RHYTHMS" ALREADY ON CDBABY
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