About Mohammed Nazam

A professional musician and composer for twenty years, Mohammed Nazam is also a respected music educator. In February of 2005 Mo was invited to participate in two events for HRH The Prince Of Wales. One was a project that saw the Prince attending a recording session led by renowned music producer Trevor Horn (who has produced worldwide hit records for Frankie Goes to Hollywood, Seal, Yes and Buggles). In March 2005 Mo was invited to a special Celebration of British Music at Buckingham Palace, hosted by HRH The Queen and Prince Phillip, which was attended by over 500 guests, including some of the most influential and popular musicians, composers, artists and producers from the British Music Industry. Born in Pakistan, Mo grew up in the UK where he was exposed to music and art from all over the world, ranging from the Indian film scores of his childhood to the rock, soul and jazz that are the foundations of the contemporary music styles found in one of the worlds most vibrant cities. Mo took up the guitar at age 15 and started playing in local bands right away. Since then he has gone on to play with some of the most prestigious musicians and bands in the UK. In early 1997 Mo was commissioned by the Soho Jazz Festival to write a new composition to be debuted at the ’97 Festival, held in late September. Established for 12 years the Soho Jazz Festival is an internationally renowned event and this was the first time that a new piece of music has been especially written for the festival. The piece highlights the variety of cultural and musical styles that Mo has been involved with as a musician, composer and avid fan. In 1999 Mo, together with computer wizard Phil Thompson, was commissioned by Serious Productions (one of Europe’s leading music promoters) for a one off project. The X Foundation, featuring random musical ideas generated by computer fractals combined with a live band, was a psychedelic sci-fi extravaganza that (in true Rock ‘n’ Roll spirit) split immediately after it’s first performance, due to musical differences. But of course, that’s not all. Since 2001 Mo has worked with The Prince’s Trust on their residential SoundLive courses teaching socially disadvantaged young people (homeless, substance mis-users, ex-offenders) to play instruments and perform live. The week-long course features a strong focus on personal development, team working, communication and motivational skills. Each day the students learn music from around the world and work in bands, culminating in a grand gala concert at the end of the week. He also teaches guitar and leads Jazz workshops at Richmond Upon Thames College in Twickenham. For much of the 90’s Mo wrote articles and reviews for numerous music magazines including Melody maker, The Guitar Magazine and Making Music. For the Guitar Magazine he interviewed such legendary artists as John McLaughlin, Allan Holdsworth, Mike Stern, John Scofield, Steve Lukather, Al DiMeola and Robben Ford. Recently he started writing for the Guitarist, one of Europe’s leading music magazines, and has so far written pieces on George Benson, Pat Metheny, Todd Rundgren and a cover story on John 5. Currently he’s trying to get some sleep.

A Message from Mo, October 2016

“You have to think anyway, so why not think big?” Who said that? Donald Trump. Now, considering his sterling record in everything from international relations to gender issues you might be wondering why I'd even think of including that in a Berakah Arts newsletter. One reason is that I find it ironic, and hence funny,

By |2016-11-22T17:40:59+00:00October 9th, 2016|

A Message from Mo, September 2016

It feels like a short summer break so I hope you managed to get sone sun and maybe some Hammock Time (any beach based MC's feel free to use that one). Summer was super busy. As well as gigs and concerts with various bands I was setting the ground for future projects and, in line

By |2016-11-22T17:39:04+00:00September 22nd, 2016|

A Message from Mo, April 2016

Reading has always been one of my great pleasures and this year I've made a concerted effort to go back to reading some fiction. The last spate of fiction I read was about five or six years ago when I caught up with what I think of 'modern classic', including Kafka On The Shore, Cloud

By |2016-11-22T17:38:07+00:00April 12th, 2016|

A message from Mo, March 2016

Sometime around mid February I visited and spent the evening with a man, about 82 years old, living in North London, who's wife had passed away. His family had arrived here four or five generations ago from Russia so he was as British as can be. His wife, however, was from Germany and had lost

By |2016-11-22T17:37:01+00:00March 22nd, 2016|

A Message from Mo – April 8th 2015

Hello friends and supporters, I'm delighted to be able to tell you the full details of our 2015 tour of England. The last time we toured so extensively was in 2007 and much has changed since then. This tour, backed by the Arts Council of England, celebrates our work and the work of countless organisations

By |2015-04-13T15:04:34+00:00April 13th, 2015|

A Message from Mo, Jan 12th 2015

It feels wrong to wish everyone a Happy New Year, considering the events across the world in the first few days of 2015. So it's with a sombre tone that I greet all of you. The taking of lives in France, Africa and the continuing violence in the Middle East, Pakistan and Afghanistan casts a

By |2015-02-16T16:37:21+00:00January 12th, 2015|

A Message from Mo, December 2014

“It's been a really busy time for Berakah – setting up a tour for 2015, organising our 10th London concert , writing new music and rehearsing with the choir for our Christmas concert. It's all go! In the midst of all that 'I'm so busy isn't life hectic I've got no time' type inner narrative

By |2015-02-16T16:37:35+00:00December 1st, 2014|

A Message from Mo, Late July 2014

“Dark clouds gather. The skies darken. All seems lost. Even so, it's not a time to give up, rather a time to tread carefully. Brian Browne Walker, in his translation of hexagram 10 (“Treading/Conduct”) of the I Ching talks about avoiding the bite of a tiger by treading around it carefully - It is not

By |2015-02-16T16:38:06+00:00July 28th, 2014|

It’s a Funny Old World

On my way back to where I'd parked my car, after another enjoyable night at Zebrano in Greek St with the cracking band I turned from Dean St on Oxford Street, which at 23.00 hours was still buzzy with cars, buses and people. As I walked along I noticed a lady walking slowly in front

By |2014-07-13T17:59:57+00:00July 9th, 2014|
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