Walid Nahas

Most families meet around the kitchen table. In Walid’s it was around the piano. The first time Walid sat at a piano he was 9. After quietly observing his younger sister tap away, his curiosity got the better of him. The minute his fingers hit the keyboard he was hooked. The world became his piano. It’s where he dreamt, grew up, shaped his thoughts, planned his life. On that very keyboard.

With hours of classical music training it all became second nature and improvisation a sixth sense, as he drove his teachers round the bend, modifying countless classics to suit his taste.

Very soon the home basement was transformed into a huge music studio, with musicians filing in and out. He taught himself the guitar, bass, percussions and his favorite, the harmonica. He started to compose at the early age of 15, for various bands in Montreal, from rock/blues to latin jazz.

He played for events at hotels, weddings, cocktails, office parties in Montréal and always accepted, happy for the opportunity to play. He had another motive; it was in those moments that he started to compose. So he’d play, and in between the special requests shouted out by those ever-faithful barflies, he’d improvise. It’s where he started composing and playing around with musical ideas. Music for Walid is his life, his ‘raison d’etre’. He expresses himself and lives through his music.

Influenced by composers such as Chopin, Schubert, Eric Satie and Vangelis, his album IMMERSION is a first in a series of compositions. Walid offers a universe free of interpretation. For Walid, the piano is an instrument that frees his spirit. Every key evokes an image, a thought, a feeling.

The relationship between Walid ans his piano is a marvellous experience. His music is a stream of sensations. Walid said it all in his music. Listening to him is getting to know him.