Yussef Kamaal

Yussef Kamaal are a London-based jazz-funk duo whose members are <a href="spotify:artist:2rspptKP0lPBdlJJAJHqht">Yussef Dayes</a> and <a href="spotify:artist:01mXk9IDlVczWwZvVHAiIS">Kamaal Williams</a> (aka <a href="spotify:artist:0IvTgqmNuZwVjEkkjzxLha">Henry Wu</a>). Interestingly -- and one suspects not coincidentally -- their name recalls the great Egyptian artist Kamal Yussef, a founding member of the influential, aesthetically revolutionary, and multi-disciplinary Groupe de L'Art Contemporain in Cairo in the 1940s. The band's sound represents a collision of '70s jazz-funk with 21st century London bass, beat, and hip-hop.

Both are South Londoners. <a href="spotify:artist:2rspptKP0lPBdlJJAJHqht">Dayes</a> is drummer for Afrobeat band <a href="spotify:artist:1ULUOUEQkiIGalRL7yR48w">United Vibrations</a>, while <a href="spotify:artist:01mXk9IDlVczWwZvVHAiIS">Williams</a> is a well-known producer, keyboard player, and drummer who has issued a series of 12" singles under his given name. The pair crossed paths in 2007 while pursuing other musical ventures and kept in touch, intermittently playing together. While rehearsing for a one-off gig of <a href="spotify:artist:01mXk9IDlVczWwZvVHAiIS">Williams</a>' solo material at the Boiler Room, they decided to form a band. That show, a much-talked-about success built on total groove- and rhythm-based improvisation, led to others. Without pre-planned tunes or arrangements, the music was always spontaneously created, often born from a single drumbeat; <a href="spotify:artist:01mXk9IDlVczWwZvVHAiIS">Williams</a> has described their music as "...all about drums and keys...." the duo played a 20-minute set at <a href="spotify:artist:4fH73bVIwM24QrBqjTrhAA">Gilles Peterson</a>'s awards show and based on its strength, signed them to his <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Brownswood%22">Brownswood</a> label. With the <a href="spotify:artist:6Gujb3D3UJuIBtTCCK2Hnv">Heliocentrics</a>' <a href="spotify:artist:799SiIngfx9kQtEC1jcert">Malcolm Catto</a> engineering, the pair enlisted six other musicians -- including saxophonist <a href="spotify:artist:6ywMpa6AmGJpV5Sbyy58Js">Shabaka Hutchings</a> -- to share their vision in a recording studio, resulting in the full-length Black Focus, issued in November 2016. ~ Thom Jurek, Rovi