Osama Afifi

Biography

Osama Afifi is an Upright and Electric Bassist who has been part of the West Coast music scene since 1981. In his early years he performed with R&B Legends the Cadillacs and the 5th Dimension. He also worked with the Brian Maclean band (formerly of the band Love) featuring Maria Mckee, and Charles Conners (Original Drummer for Little Richard). Osama has recorded and performed live with many artists, including U.S. and Canadian tours with Yanni, Vanessa Paradis, and John Densmore's Tribal Jazz. He appeared on VH1's show "Storytellers" with The Doors. Osama performed at the R&B Live Theater with Billy Preston, Stacy Lattisaw, Mickey Howard and Hamish Stuart (Average white Band). He has also worked with Kurt Elling, Nnenna Freelon, Mindi Abair, Jeff Kashiwa, Gary Herbig, Kei Akagi, Hugo Jojo, and trumpeter Tony Guerrero. For several years he was 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, Umbria, and Monterey Jazz Festivals, just to name a few. The Quartet was recognized in the All Music Guide to Jazz book published in 1998. Osama co-wrote a song entitled "Nami" that is featured on the group's CD Searching for the One. The song was quoted as "a future Jazz standard" by “Billboard Magazine”. KLON, a Los Angeles jazz radio station, chose "Nami" to be on their members only compilation CD. Since moving to the Pacific Northwest he has worked with the Tacoma Symphony, Judy Collins, Kareem Kandi Quartet, Darren Motamedy, David Keys, Hook Me Up, Gail Pettis, Michael Powers and many others. He also continues to record numerous jingles and TV shows, such as Wild Bills Adventure, Battledome, the New Newlywed Game, Toyota, BET, Lizzie MacGuire, Infiniti, Barbie, Hyundai and Tropicana. His education included studies at the Dick Grove School of Music. He also studied with Jeff Berlin and Gary Willis. He has taught at the Los Angeles Music Academy in Pasadena, California and is currently teaching privately in Tacoma Wa.

Source: http://www.osamaafifi.com/About_Me.html accessed 23rd March 2013