Mwalim Daphunkee Professor

• Jazz
• Soul

Considered by critics and peers alike to be one of the contemporary masters of the oral tradition, MWALIM “DaPhunkee Professor” (Morgan James Peters) is a multi-award-winning composer, musician, theater artist, writer, and educator whose works span the mediums of sound recordings, books, plays, films, videos, and multimedia installations.

An accomplished composer, musician, and singer in the genres of jazz, soul, House Music, and Afrobeats, Mwalim s a three-time winner of the New England Urban Music Awards for Jazz, and is the writer and co-producer of The GroovaLottos six-time Grammy nominated album, “Ask Yo’ Mama”.

Coming from long family lines of West Indian/Bajan (Barbados) and Mashpee Wampanoag oral traditionalists, it was of little surprise that Mwalim would tell stories to his classmates in nursery school and kindergarten, or that he began winning awards for storytelling in the 7th grade, and city-wide short-story contests in high school. While in college, he began his career as a storyteller and spoken-word artist; interweaving storytelling with a life long love of music as a violist, pianist, percussionist, and singer. Playing Carnegie Hall before the age of 14 and -at 16 -becoming one of the youngest session players in EMI history- Mwalim’s story is a rich and multi-dimensional one. After completing his MS in Film Boston University he studied theater arts education and playwriting at New African Company in Boston. His plays began getting productions in Boston and after a reading at the 1999 National Black Theatre Festival, his plays and performances pieces began receiving productions throughout the USA and Canada as well as the UK and Caribbean.