Osama Afifi

Last updated
Osama Afifi
Genres Jazz
Occupation(s)Musician, composer
Instrument Bass
Years active1983-present

Osama Afifi is an American jazz bassist. He has recorded and performed live with many artists such as U.S. and Canadian tours with Yanni during the "Reflections of Passion", "Revolution in Sound", and "Dare to Dream" concert tours; a European and Canadian tour with French artist Vanessa Paradis; and a TV show on VH1 called Storytellers with The Doors. He worked with jazz vocalists Kurt Elling and Nnenna Freelon, The 5th Dimension, The Cadillacs, jazz saxophonist Gary Herbig, singer Debby Boone, keyboardist Kei Akagi, Doors drummer John Densmore, Brazilian style guitar duo Hugo Jojo, and jazz trumpeter Tony Guerrero.

For several years he has been the bassist for the B Sharp Jazz Quartet. The Quartet toured extensively throughout the United States and Europe. They performed at the North Sea, Istanbul, Nice, Brecon, and Monterey Jazz Festivals, to name a few. Afifi ventured into composition, co-writing the song "Nami" for the album Searching for the One. KLON, a Los Angeles jazz radio station, chose "Nami" to be on a compilation album.[ citation needed ]

His education includes studies at the Dick Grove School of Music. He also studied with Jeff Berlin and Gary Willis.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">John Scofield</span> American jazz guitarist and composer (born 1951)

John Scofield is an American guitarist and composer. His music over a long career has blended jazz, jazz fusion, funk, blues, soul and rock. He first came to mainstream attention as part of the band of Miles Davis; he has toured and recorded with many prominent jazz artists including saxophonists Eddie Harris, Dave Liebman, Joe Henderson, and Joe Lovano; keyboardists George Duke, Joey DeFrancesco, Herbie Hancock, Larry Goldings, and Robert Glasper; fellow guitarists Pat Metheny, John Abercrombie, Pat Martino, and Bill Frisell; bassists Marc Johnson and Jaco Pastorius; and drummers Billy Cobham and Dennis Chambers. Outside the world of jazz, he has collaborated with Phil Lesh, Mavis Staples, John Mayer, Medeski Martin & Wood, and Gov't Mule.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Keith Jarrett</span> American pianist and composer (born 1945)

Keith Jarrett is an American pianist and composer. Jarrett started his career with Art Blakey and later moved on to play with Charles Lloyd and Miles Davis. Since the early 1970s, he has also been a group leader and solo performer in jazz, jazz fusion, and classical music. His improvisations draw from the traditions of jazz and other genres, including Western classical music, gospel, blues, and ethnic folk music.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pat Metheny</span> American jazz guitarist and composer (born 1954)

Patrick Bruce Metheny is an American jazz guitarist and composer.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Modern Jazz Quartet</span> American jazz ensemble

The Modern Jazz Quartet (MJQ) was a jazz combo established in 1952 that played music influenced by classical, cool jazz, blues and bebop. The Quartet consisted of John Lewis (piano), Milt Jackson (vibraphone), Percy Heath, and various drummers, most notably Kenny Clarke and Connie Kay. The group grew out of the rhythm section of Dizzy Gillespie's big band from 1946 to 1948, which consisted of Lewis, Jackson, and Clarke along with bassist Ray Brown. They recorded as the Milt Jackson Quartet in 1951 and Brown left the group, being replaced on bass by Heath. During the early-to-mid-1950s they became the Modern Jazz Quartet, Lewis became the group's musical director, and they made several recordings with Prestige Records, including the original versions of their two best-known compositions, Lewis's "Django" and Jackson's "Bags' Groove". Clarke left the group in 1955 and was replaced as drummer by Kay, and in 1956 they moved to Atlantic Records and made their first tour to Europe.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jack DeJohnette</span> American jazz drummer, pianist, and composer (born 1942)

Jack DeJohnette is an American jazz drummer, pianist, and composer.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gary Burton</span> American vibraphonist

Gary Burton is an American jazz vibraphonist, composer, and educator. Burton developed a pianistic style of four-mallet technique as an alternative to the prevailing two-mallet technique. This approach caused him to be heralded as an innovator, and his sound and technique are widely imitated. He is also known for pioneering fusion jazz and popularizing the duet format in jazz, as well as being a major figure in music education from his 30 years teaching at the Berklee College of Music.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dave Holland (bassist)</span> British jazz musician

David Holland is an English double bassist, bass guitarist, cellist, composer and bandleader who has been performing and recording for five decades. He has lived in the United States since the early 1970s.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Paul Bley</span> Canadian jazz pianist

Paul Bley, CM was a Canadian jazz pianist known for his contributions to the free jazz movement of the 1960s as well as his innovations and influence on trio playing and his early live performance on the Moog and ARP synthesizers. His music has been described by Ben Ratliff of the New York Times as "deeply original and aesthetically aggressive". Bley's prolific output includes influential recordings from the 1950s through to his solo piano recordings of the 2000s.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Charles Lloyd (jazz musician)</span> American jazz musician (born 1938)

Charles Lloyd is an American jazz musician. He primarily plays tenor saxophone and flute and occasionally other reed instruments, including alto saxophone and the Hungarian tárogató. Lloyd's primary band since 2007 has been a quartet including pianist Jason Moran, acoustic bassist Reuben Rogers, and drummer Eric Harland.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jon Ballantyne</span> Canadian pianist and composer

Jon Ballantyne is a pianist and composer who resides in the New York area.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gary Husband</span> British jazz and rock musician

Gary Husband is an English jazz and rock drummer, pianist, keyboard player and bandleader. He is also a composer, arranger, producer and educator.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Niels Lan Doky</span> Danish jazz pianist, composer and producer

Niels Lan Doky is a Danish jazz pianist, composer and producer. He is the older brother of jazz bassist Chris Minh Doky.

John Geggie is an Ottawa-based Canadian bassist who performs jazz with several Ottawa-based groups and performers. As well, he is a classical bassist who has performed in the National Arts Centre Orchestra, in Ottawa-area chamber orchestras, and in chamber music concerts.

<i>In Celebration of Life</i> 1991 compilation album by Yanni

In Celebration of Life is the second compilation album and seventh album overall by Greek keyboardist and composer Yanni, released on the Private Music label in 1991. The album peaked at #3 on Billboard's Top New Age Albums chart and at #60 on the Billboard 200 in the same year.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Franck Amsallem</span> Musical artist

Franck Amsallem is a French-American jazz pianist, arranger, composer, singer and educator. He was born in 1961 in Oran, French Algeria, but grew up in Nice, France.

Stafford James is an American double-bassist and composer.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Scott Colley</span> American jazz double bassist and composer

Scott Colley is an American jazz double bassist and composer. As of 2024, he has been nominated for 4 Grammy Awards, including Best Jazz Instrumental Album for Guided Tour in 2014 and Still Dreaming in 2019. Throughout his career, he has toured, recorded, and played with musicians such as Herbie Hancock, Jim Hall, Carmen McRae, Chris Potter, Julian Lage, Brian Blade, and Pat Metheny.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Branford Marsalis</span> American saxophonist, composer, and bandleader (b. 1960)

Branford Marsalis is an American saxophonist, composer, and bandleader. While primarily known for his work in jazz as the leader of the Branford Marsalis Quartet, he also performs frequently as a soloist with classical ensembles and has led the group Buckshot LeFonque. From 1992 to 1995 he led the Tonight Show Band.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chris Jennings (musician)</span> Musical artist

Chris Jennings is a Canadian jazz double bassist, composer, arranger and educator.

Andrew G. McKee is a New York-based, American bassist who has been performing and recording in North America, South America, Europe, and Japan since 1978. McKee's most important rhythm section mentors have included Philly Joe Jones, Elvin Jones and Idris Muhammad. He travelled widely in Europe with both Elvin Jones and with French pianist Michel Petrucciani. He played for about a decade with the Mingus Big Band and has had his own groups. He is the author of two books on upright bass technique and has taught at The New School for Jazz and Contemporary Music since 1993.