Drummer Yussef Dayes is one of the most exciting musicians to have emerged from London's vibrant new jazz scene. Dayes masterminded last year's Yussef Kamaal album, Black Focus. Having previously shown his extensive range, writing and performing with his brothers in United Vibrations "a psychedelic take on jazz with added elements of hip-hop, chants, electronic dance music and world rhythms", he then built on this with Black Focus which fuses the dreamier end of 70s jazz-funk with a London club sensibility, tapping into jungle, trip hop and house.
Having broken boundaries with their debut album, Dayes is braced for a new, more profound challenge. The 24-year-old is poised for a journey that reaches even deeper into the soul. Where Black Focus explored the relationship between drum and dancefloor, his next experiment moves beyond the jazz influences and into a completely new transcendental realm.
The Independent declared “Dayes is rhythm”. Taught by Billy Cobham (Miles Davis) and heavily influenced by Senegalese techniques, his playing is volatile, entrancing and artful in equal measure. Joining him are two young musicians whose playing styles tap into the ethereal and cinematic. Yussef has been working with South London-based, Royal Academy-schooled guitarist/bassist, Mansur Brown, and Sun Ra Arkestra-schooled pianist, Charlie Stacey for just over six months. Together, they channel pure, unadulterated emotion; the kind that can only be reached by musicians with London’s concrete jungle at their core. A new record is already in the works.
