Black Focus

by Yussef Dayes & Kamaal Williams

Black Focus cover art
  • Type: Album
  • Released: 4 November 2016
  • Label: Brownswood Recordings
  • Country: United Kingdom
  • Length: 43:42
  • Community rating: 3.8/5 from 5 ratings

Artists on this release: Yelfris Valdes, Kamaal Williams, Kareem Dayes, Tom Driessler, Yussef Dayes, Mansur Brown, Shabaka Hutchings

Album Notes & Community Reviews

The sole studio album from the duo Yussef Kamaal, 'Black Focus' channels the improvisational energy of the mid-2010s South London jazz scene by blending spiritual jazz-funk with the broken-beat rhythms of UK club culture. Keyboardist Kamaal Williams鈥檚 atmospheric synths and Rhodes chords create a harmonic foundation for the frenetic, polyrhythmic drumming of Yussef Dayes, resulting in a sound that is both spontaneous and tightly interwoven. Recorded with an emphasis on capturing a live dynamic, the album鈥檚 fusion of 1970s fusion textures with distinctly British electronic influences established it as a landmark recording for the modern UK jazz movement.

Genres

Descriptors: complex

Tracklist

  1. Black Focus (04:34)
  2. Strings Of Light (08:28)
  3. Remembrance (09:00)
  4. Yo Chavez (03:59)
  5. Ayla (00:46)
  6. O.G. (00:46)
  7. Lowrider (04:28)
  8. Mansur's Message (02:06)
  9. WingTai Drums (01:16)
  10. Joint 17 (08:19)

Credits

  • Yussef Dayes - drums, percussion, production, performer, written-by
  • Kamaal Williams - rhodes piano, synth, production, electric piano [rhodes], performer, written-by
  • Shabaka Hutchings - saxophone, tenor saxophone
  • Yelfris Valdes - trumpet
  • Tom Driessler - bass, electric bass
  • Kareem Dayes - bass, electric bass
  • Mansur Brown - guitar, electric guitar
  • Malcom Catto - production, engineering, assistant production, recording, engineer
  • Haji Noor Deen - calligraphy
  • Adelight - recording
  • Fabrice Buergelle - photography, photography by [studio photo]
  • Guy Davie - mastering, mastered by
  • Eric Lau - engineering, production, engineer
  • Matt & Dan - art direction, design
  • Kengo Oshima - engineer, recording
  • Richard Samuels - assistant production, engineering, production, engineer
  • Selem Wakazi - photography by [live performance photo]
  • Gordon Wedderburn - words by

More from Yussef Dayes & Kamaal Williams: full discography