Multi-instrumentalist Kafari brings his gorgeous, healing music to the South Church UU Sanctuary Sunday, June 8th, at 2pm. Lay down your woes while Kafari’s tones take you on a soulful, dreamy, jazzy journey. $20 Suggested Donation.
Kafari (he/him) is the alias of Cincinnati-born, Portland-based pianist and multi-instrumentalist Ahmad Muhammad. His warm, soulful sound synthesizes his love of impressionist piano music, spiritual jazz, neo-soul, experimental beat music and ambient electronic music, resulting in a magical, dreamlike atmosphere created through his piano, organ bass and sp404 beat machine.
Through his intimate and magical live performances and numerous moodsetting instrumental albums, Kafari explores music-making as a balm for the spirit, transporting his listeners to peaceful, blissful states and inviting them on a journey of spiritual discovery. In the liner notes to his most recent release Riffs and Lullabies vol. 2 (2022) Kafari writes – “I think of being a musician as a private public journey. My intention is to care for myself and to cultivate a personal relationship with music that is expressive, healing, and that serves my needs at the time. And perhaps through that act of expression and of making a statement, I can make a connection with you.”
Taking inspiration from his musical heroes, jazz harpist Dorothy Ashby, beatmaker J Dilla, and the Carolina Chocolate Drops, who in a 2014 performance sparked Kafari’s interest in traditional music and the rhythm bones – a percussion instrument that was popularized in America in the 1800’s through Blackface Minstrelsy – Kafari often distributes and teaches the rhythm bones at his performances, inviting his audiences to workshop basic rhythmic techniques and to share collectively in the joy of bones-playing.
The Ohio native creates soulful compositions grounded in a lifelong enchantment with the piano. His work highlights the inherent beauty in mundane moments, inviting us to – as his favorite mug reads – “enjoy the gift of an ordinary day.” Deeply influenced by the neo-soul and jazz scenes of his hometown Cincinnati, Ohio, Kafari started studying jazz as a teenager under the life-changing mentorship of pianist William Menefield, who he is still in touch with to this day. Living with the fundamental commitment to being a blessing, Kafari is a resident of Portland, Maine, where he is quietly creating and seeking inspiration.