Yussef Kamaal, Black Focus  
Yussef Kamaal
Black Focus
GBR 1xLP 
Label: Brownswood Recordings
Release Year: 2017
Style: Jazz & Blues
 
  The borders between London's musical tribes have always been porous. For Yussef Kamaal, the sound of the capital - with its hum of jungle, grime and broken beat - has shaped a selftaught, UKtipped approach to playing jazz. In the states, the genre’s longrunning to-and-fro with hip hop - from Robert Glasper to Kamasi Washington - has reimagined it within US culture. On Black Focus, Yussef Kamaal frame jazz inside the basssaturated, pirate radio broadcasts of London.

Taking inspiration from the anything-goes spirit of ‘70s jazzfunk, on albums by Herbie Hancock or the Mahavishnu Orchestra, it’s a loose template with plenty of room to experiment. The pair, made up of Yussef Dayes and Kamaal Williams (aka Henry Wu), have had little in the way of formal training. Instead, their musical tastes – and approach to playing – are indebted to Thelonious Monk’s piano as much as the drum programming of Kaidi Tatham.

“It's all about the drums and the keys,” Williams says. “Not to take anything from anyone else, but that's where it all originates from: the chords, the rhythm of the chords and the drums.” Born out of a oneoff live session to perform Williams’ solo material for Boiler Room, it soon became a project in its own right. Coming together as Yussef Kamaal, they played a series of live shows where little more than a chord progression would be planned before taking to the
stage.

Bringing that unspoken understanding to the recording sessions (engineered by Malcolm Catto of The Heliocentrics), the unplanned, telepathically spawned grooves retain the raw energy of their live shows. “It's not so much about complete arrangement, it's more about flow,” Dayes says. “A lot of the tracks are just made spontaneously – Henry will be playing two chords, I'll fill in the groove and we'll just leave the arrangement naturally.” Both hail from South East London, crossing paths in 2007 as teenagers playing their first pub gigs around Peckham and Camberwell. Dayes drums for cosmicallyinclined, afrobeat outfit United Vibrations, while Williams – on top of drumming and playing keys in different incarnations over the years – has made waves with his solo, synthdraped house 12"s for muchfêted labels like 22a and Rhythm Section.

Moving in the same circles but never playing together previously, rhythm underpins an innate musical understanding. As Williams explains, “The way we approach it is all about the energy and the feeling. We just get in there and we feel it out.” Drawing influence from all corners of London’s shapeshifting musical makeup, the sound of Black Focus is distilled – or focused – down to the core interlock between drums and keys.
 
      Wish List  
  Price: CHF 34.00   Currently not on stock!
Please check back later or call us for more information:
+41 (0)43 322 02 04
 
  Releases of the same artist  
  No items found ..  
  Releases of the same label  
  Ben Westbeech, So Good Today (Osunlade Remixes)  
Ben Westbeech
So Good Today (Osunlade Remixes)
[Brownswood Recordings]
GBR 12inch  Wish List
CHF 15.00 Add To Cart
 
  Gilles Peterson, Brownswood Bubblers Vol.11  
Gilles Peterson
Brownswood Bubblers Vol.11
[Brownswood Recordings]
GBR 1xCD  Wish List
CHF 26.00 Restocking!
 
  Gilles Peterson’s Havana Cultura Band, Havana Club Rumba Sessions Part 1  
Gilles Peterson’s Havana Cultura Band
Havana Club Rumba Sessions Part 1
[Brownswood Recordings]
GBR 12inch  Wish List
CHF 19.00 Restocking!
 
  Gilles Peterson’s Havana Cultura Band, Havana Club Rumba Sessions Part 2  
Gilles Peterson’s Havana Cultura Band
Havana Club Rumba Sessions Part 2
[Brownswood Recordings]
GBR 12inch  Wish List
CHF 19.00 Restocking!
 
  Gilles Peterson’s Havana Cultura Band, Havana Club Rumba Sessions Part 3  
Gilles Peterson’s Havana Cultura Band
Havana Club Rumba Sessions Part 3
[Brownswood Recordings]
GBR 12inch  Wish List
CHF 19.00 Restocking!
 
  Jose James, The Dreamer (LP+MP3/180g/Ltd.Ed.)  
Jose James
The Dreamer (LP+MP3/180g/Ltd.Ed.)
[Brownswood Recordings]
GBR 1xLP  Wish List
CHF 30.00 Add To Cart
 
  Shabaka And The Ancestors, Wisdom Of Elders  
Shabaka And The Ancestors
Wisdom Of Elders
[Brownswood Recordings]
GBR 2xLP  Wish List
CHF 30.00 Add To Cart
 
  STR4TA, STR4TASFEAR  
STR4TA
STR4TASFEAR
[Brownswood Recordings]
GBR 1xLP  Wish List
CHF 39.00 Add To Cart
 
  Various, Brownswood 10 Versions  
Various
Brownswood 10 Versions
[Brownswood Recordings]
GBR 2xLP  Wish List
CHF 40.00 Restocking!
 
  Various, We Out Here  
Various
We Out Here
[Brownswood Recordings]
GBR 2xLP  Wish List
CHF 35.00 Add To Cart
 
  Various, Future Bubblers 8.0  
Various
Future Bubblers 8.0
[Brownswood Recordings]
GBR 1xLP  Wish List
CHF 34.00 Add To Cart
 
Amine
13 Months of Sunshine
[CLBN]
Ana Frango Eletrico
Mormaco Queima
[Mr Bongo]
Annahstasia
Tether
[Drink Sum Wtr]
Arat Kilo
Danama
[Accords Croises]
Billy Woods
Golliwog
[Backwoodz Studioz]
Derya Yildirim & Grup Simsek
Yarin Yoksa
[Big Crown Records]
Durand Jones & The Indications
Flowers
[Dead Oceans]
Ennio Morricone
Dietro Il Processo
[BTF]
Lijadu Sisters
Danger
[Numero Group]
Loyle Carner
Hopefully!
[EMI]
Playboi Carti
Music
[Interscope ]
Rhythm Machine
Rhythm Machine
[Vampisoul]
Stereolab
Instant Holograms On Metal Film (Clear Vinyl Gf.)
[Warp]
V/A
Spiritual Jazz 18: Behind The Iron Curtain (Part 1)
[Jazzman]
Wu-Tang Clan X Mathematics
Black Samson, The Bastard Swordsman
[Ruffnation]
  1. Lexx
Rhythm Of Love
 
  2. Palace Pasador
Footprint Affair
 
  3. Amine
13 Months of Sunshine
 
  4. Doechii
Alligator Bites Never Heal
 
  5. Fugees
The Score
 
  6. Glenn Underground
Mother Tongue x Neroli EP
 
  7. Hiroshi Suzuki
Cat
 
  8. J Dilla
928
 
  9. J Dilla
Genius
 
  10. Little Simz
Lotus