The borders between London’s musical tribes have always been porous. For Yu… Read Full Bio ↴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 self-taught, UK-tipped approach to playing jazz. In the states, the genre’s long-running 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 bass-saturated, pirate radio broadcasts of London.
Taking inspiration from the anything-goes spirit of ‘70s jazz-funk, 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 one-off 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 cosmically-inclined, 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, synth-draped house 12"s for much-fêted labels like 22a and Rhythm Section.
Taking inspiration from the anything-goes spirit of ‘70s jazz-funk, 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 one-off 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 cosmically-inclined, 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, synth-draped house 12"s for much-fêted labels like 22a and Rhythm Section.
LOWRIDER
Yussef Kamaal Lyrics
We have lyrics for 'LOWRIDER' by these artists:
Cypress Hill Low-ri-der, low-ri-der Coming through fo' real we Cypress H…
El Barco Jalapeño Qué extraña pasión Es todo lo que puedo encontrar Sufriendo…
Fear Factory and Korn Shit All my friends drive a lowrider And the lowrider is a…
Flipper 1,2,3,4... So you´re a lowrider, man Walkin´down the street …
Herr Kuchen Yeah, ich hab den Lowrider-Swag Yeah, du siehst wie ich im…
J.R.C.G. Tengo a tu gata pidiéndome de mi queso Pero se jode…
Kalim Lowrider, Lowrider, Lowrider, Lowrider, Lowrider Low-low Lo…
King I.S.O Tengo a tu gata pidiéndome de mi queso Pero se jode…
KITCHEN - Korn Shit All my friends drive a lowrider And the lowrider is a…
KRESTALL / Courier Детка, прыгай на мне, будто lowrider Мои люди здесь, ловишь …
Latin Alliance Yeah Come on Take a little trip with the Frost We about t…
Maurício DTS Refrão: Lowrider, estilo de vida y cultura Lowrider, familia…
Motor Ace Two can play games when it comes to minds But only…
Ocean Wisdom You ain't never seen an English boy in a lowrider Chillin',…
Sinsenfist Sinsenfist Krigsskip Dr Kjell Og Norges deiligste mann Ugsta…
W.A.R. All my friends know the low rider The low rider is…
War All my friends know the low rider The low rider is…
Y40i Betclic, j'veux l'chèque J'veux la moula dans les pockets (M…
We have lyrics for these tracks by Yussef Kamaal:
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Tom Humby
So far up my street that it's practically in my front room, admiring the decor and commenting on my dvd collection.
Daryl Chambers
True, true.
Ela La
Wicked comment)
LadyD
Amazing ....it's been a long time since I've heard something this good.
NEOL1NK
I remember when I discovered this album and that it annoyed me that it didn't officially credit anyone else that played on it besides the keyboardist and drummer. The bass parts on tracks like this one and Strings of Light basically drive the whole thing. The track is called "Lowrider" for god's sake lol
david lane
I'm 64 yrs old and this is dope killer bassline groove and then some
SpiritualEssence🌻
So glad I’ve found you guys right up my Jazz street 💖 Smashing it up and I love the Driving Bass! Its all about the Bass 😁
banditoto
that bass is thrilling
jinters1
Cannot wait to receive my album! Love you guys! x
reflecto
killer bass