Singer Songwriter

Vocal Coach

Coming from different cultural backgrounds -from a Palestinian father and a Galician mother-, this mixture is the key which defines her musical career. With a voice full of character, she combines Galician, Brazilian and African music and starting to add her Arabic roots also with jazz, funk. She became interested in music since her childhood and began studying and singing when she was 9. She also took part in different polyphonic choirs and Galician folk bands. It was then when she composed her first songs. However,it was when she was 17 and learnt to play the guitar that her songs turned into a more personal style and her voice was influenced by different styles such as jazz, funk, blues and world music. She went on to study modern music and musical education so she could become proficient in vocal technic and its pedagogy. In order to do so she travelled to different countries such as Norway,India, Japan, Portugal, Jordan, Spain as a solo artist or as a part of different musical groups. Her work also stands out when she accompanies several polyphonic world music choirs such as Coro da Rá, Coro de Agemm and the vocal jazz quintet Os Tristáns from Galicia.

Between 2003 and 2011 she colaborated in different works as she gradually incorporates new influences into her musical language such as Portuguese, Brazilian and African, mixing those, which have a great impact on her music, with her roots and jazz. It is at this point of her career when she takes part in several tours that are meeting points for musicians from all over the world (Brasil,Portugal, Angola, Guiné Bissau, Galicia and Spain) and in the recording of the record-book and documentary CoraSons (Kalandraka, 2013). She also took part in festivals such as “Estou Lá, Festival da Lusofonía” or “Terra da Fraternidade, Homenaxe a Zeca Afonso" and TV shows such as Oh Happy Day! in 2015 as a judge on the galician version.

Her first work as a solo artist, the record-book “Na lingua que eu falo” (Galaxia, 2013) is an in depth look at the poems of the galician poetess Rosalía de Castro. In this work, the Galician-Palestinian songwriter Najla Shami tries to bring together her origin and her modern influences. She was selected as a finalist in the XIII Premios Opinión de Música Folk in the categories of Best New Artist and Best Original Theme.

Najla Shami Vocal Studio: workshops, masterclasses and one-to-one lessons in vocal technique, voice quality, prevention, detection, and recovery of voice problems. Working in cooperation with phoniatrist (Speech Therapist) Marisa Lois (Santiago de Compostela and Pontevedra, Spain).

www.elcorreogallego.es/index.php?idMenu=3&idNoticia=369875

Publishings and collaborations:

1. The Past to Come - Cinnamon Gum. Enterphonics, 2003

es.myspace.com/cinnamongumfunk

2. As Voces da Musa. Najla Shami / Héctor Lorenzo - VVAA

A. C. Barbantia, Bourel. Concello de Noia. 30 November 2008

www.redelibros.com/social/book/1009816?mobile=1

3. Ben Deitei - Safari Orquestra. Ouvirmos, 2010

es.myspace.com/safariorquestra

4. Coro da Rá – Fraxil. Pista Catro, 2010

www.youtube.com/watch?v=wz5qzraALbg

www.reverbnation.com/corodara

5. Haikus – Lobalú.

Najla Shami - Héctor Lorenzo. Inquedanzas Sonoras, 2011

https://open.spotify.com/artist/2R4y2jR6pHrHn9R6Iu0JqR

6. Desaparafusador de Gominola - VV. AA. Xunta de Galicia (Infantil)

recursosgz.blogspot.com.es/2011/07/o-galego-campa-desparafusador-de.html

7. Cantigas de Mulleres – VV. AA. Fol Música, 2012

www.folmusica.com/es/noticias/671/cantigas-de-mulleres-ya-tiene-fecha-de-salida

8. Son Brasilego – Sérgio Tannus. Fol Música, 2013

www.youtube.com/watch?v=sYS4bPMFTPI‎

www.sergiotannus.com/son-brasilego/

9. Na lingua que eu falo. Editorial Galaxia, 2013

www.editorialgalaxia.com/weblog/?p=19821

www.circulo.es/libros/najla-shami-na-lingua-que-eu-falo/03633

10. CoraSons – VV. AA. Editorial Kalandraka, 2013

www.youtube.com/watch?v=PtgXzAXoN5o

11. Pitusa Semifusa. Galaxia. 2014

http://www.editorialgalaxia.com/weblog/?p=21679

12. Outra Volta de Roda – A Roda. PAI Música, 2014

http://www.grupoaroda.es/index.php/novo-disco

13. Som do Galpom – Galinha de Troia, 2014

http://www.gzmusica.com/multimedia/vervideo/348/ao-vivo/som-do-galpom-feat-najla-shami-imaxina.html

14. Traca – Traco. Editorial Cumio, 2015 (Infantil)

http://www.cumio.com/libro/traca-traco/

15. Veredevere – Guilherme e Bastardo. Axóuxere Editora, 2015

http://guilhermeebastardo.wix.com/veredevere