Nadir’s not your average musician. A fact all who have heard his recent album Distorted Soul 2.0 will surely confirm. And he’s one of the few artists out there that dare to have a political opinion and isn’t afraid about telling everybody. So it’s only naturally that his interview with jazz-not-jazz goes into political issues as well. But read for yourself:

Q: How would you describe your music to someone who hasn’t heard of Nadir before?

Nadir: The music I create is called Distorted Soul. It is soul music that incorporates elements of hip-hop, rock, funk, folk, gospel and the blues. I really don’t like comparisons to other artists, but that seems to be the easiest way for people to think about it, so I would say a cross between Jimi Hendrix and Sly Stone with ?uestlove from The Roots on drums. Or halfway between D’Angelo and Lenny Kravitz.

Q: Who has influenced your sound and made you want to become a musician?

Nadir: I come from a musical family. My mother plays piano in church and encouraged/forced me to sing in the choir at a very early age and I loved it. My brother played bass guitar and trumpet. Because I wanted to be like him, those were the first two musical instruments I picked up. I also have several cousins who are great musicians. One was in a band with Chuckii Booker and later played drums for Barry White. On two different trips to Los Angeles I got to hang out at rehearsals for both groups, and that made a deep impression on me.
In high school (age 14 or so) I became very serious about music. That’s around the time I started listening to Miles Davis, Prince, Wynton Marsalis, Stanley Clarke, The Time, Cameo, and many others and decided this is what I wanted to do with my life.

>>>continue