Event description
OTHMAN WAHABI (Canada/Morocco)
The truly amazing and intriguing thing about Othman Wahabi is that he was born in Morocco in 1983, came to Canada instead of the US at the age of 22, but his music sounds like an authentic and deeply felt product of the blues tradition. One that seems to have been influenced more strongly by archaic acoustic blues than by later modern variations.
Perhaps the fact that Othman Wahabi has absorbed the musical vibrations of West Africa, which seem to have a deep subliminal connection with American blues and especially the early version of it, is the reason for the nature of his work. It has a very strong foundation in early blues. On the other hand, Wahabi incorporates other styles around that foundation - funk, soul, even reggae.
Othman has a very rich voice. A master of slide guitar, he has a compelling sound both alone and with bands. He also pays a lot of attention to lyrics (which also links him to early blues, where the text, the story a person is telling, had a special meaning), which reflect themes of spirituality, social justice, and the pain of racism and other injustices and ills.
In February 2024, a new Wahabi album, Racines, was released, containing all this, new topical themes and connections between Africa and the blues. So get ready for fresh, relevant and deep-diving contemporary blues! That's exactly what comes from O. Wahabi.
Atlikes:
Othman Wahabi - guitars, vocals
Jay Golden - bass guitar
Ranul da Silva - drums
JJJ THAMES & CRYSTAL THOMAS (USA)
Big Mama Blues
