Yussef Kamaal

Yussef Kamaal are a London-based jazz-funk duo whose members are Yussef Dayes and Kamaal Williams (aka Henry Wu). The band's sound represents a collision of '70s jazz-funk with 21st century London bass, beat, and hip-hop. Both are South Londoners. Dayes is drummer for Afrobeat band United Vibrations, while Williams is a well-known producer, keyboard player, and drummer who has issued a series of 12" singles under his given name. With the Heliocentrics' Malcolm Catto engineering, the pair enlisted six other musicians -- including saxophonist Shabaka Hutchings -- to share their vision in a recording studio, resulting in the full-length Black Focus, issued in November 2016. ~ Thom Jurek