Last modified on Sun 26 Jul 2020 20.39 BST. Coming to prominence in 2016 as one half of jazz duo Yussef Kamaal, producer and pianist Kamaal Williams spearheaded the London-based revival of the genre with his dancefloor-focused take on jazz. Add to cart. 8 Reception. Critic Reviews Lush string arrangements from LA’s Miguel Atwood-Ferguson swoon over slivers of funk bassline. On his DJ-Kicks mix last year, the Peckham multi-instrumentalist paid homage to dance music forefathers like UK funky icon Hard House Banton and broken beat mastermind Seiji. Wu Hen is the first mature portrait of Williams. Kamaal Williams: Wu Hen review – genre-bending prodigy strikes again (Black Focus) The London keys player and house DJ brings together funk, club culture and cool jazz Williams’ strength lies in his production and the foregrounding of his band members, as in the infectious four-to-the-floor funk of Mr Wu, or on the slow build of tracks Toulouse and Pigalle. No user score yet- Awaiting 1 more rating, The Legend of Heroes: Trails of Cold Steel IV, Borat Subsequent Moviefilm: Delivery of Prodigious Bribe to American Regime for Make Benefit Once Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan, There’s a luxuriant impulse at work on this second album by the London-based keyboardist and producer. Plinth The second full-length release for the London-based artist features guest appearances from Miguel Atwood-Ferguson and Lauren Faith. It’s a masterful blend, an intermingling of risk and tradition—and it absolutely soars. With a push and pull of sonics but an underlying, undeniable groove throughout, Wu Hen finds Kamaal Williams as explorative as ever, the kind of album you’d only get from a proper crate-digger. "Williams allows each track to melt into one another, the listener being given access to his subconscious" Aug 2020, p.68]. As Williams’ comping turns choppy and James’ acoustic bass runs quicken, the piece opens up into “Pigalle,” which moves the sound into Maiden Voyage-era Herbie Hancock territory, flowing like a tributary into an open sea. Catch up every Saturday with 10 of our best-reviewed albums of the week. Pitchfork is the most trusted voice in music. Kamaal Williams’ Wu Hen knows what it is and what it doesn’t want to be. Where drawing from such a wide palette might stump other musicians, Williams pulls it off with finesse. Street Dreams is the opening track of the second solo album from London keysman Kamaal Williams, and it could easily be the concept for the entire thing: a sound trapped in glass between urban reality and a more spiritual plane, shimmering as it catches the light. © 2020 CBS Interactive Inc. All rights reserved. The use of harp and orchestrations hearken back to the likes of Alice Coltrane (a touchstone for the Angeleno), but just when the piece seems like it’s about to achieve lift-off to a higher plane, it instead comes to an abrupt halt at two minutes. Uncluttered yet rhythmically deep, Black Focus also revealed the true range of UK jazz; its ready assimilation of hip-hop, R&B, Afrobeat, dubstep, and broken beat set the stage for the likes of Shabaka Hutchings, Kokoroko, and Ezra Collective to rise up in its wake. grzegorz_gebala August 13, 2020 Report; Anyone got some black dots on this red vinyl? Kamaal Williams’ Wu Hen knows what it is and what it doesn’t want to be. Williams’ solo debut, 2018’s The Return, was laden with funk and west coast references, calling upon the sun-dappled soul of Roy Ayers as much as London broken beat in its jittering 11 tracks. Yet with only one record released before the pair’s split in 2017, Williams has since struggled to establish his solo sound without the powerhouse drumming of his former partner Yussef Dayes. Background. Jazz. Kamaal Williams’ Wu Hen knows what it is and what it doesn’t want to be. All rights reserved. Add Review. Kamaal Williams’ Wu Hen knows what it is and what it doesn’t want to be. As he toys with the filters on his synths, the song evolves yet again into “Mr. His own music he dubs Wu funk – a blend of hip-hop, jazz, funk combined with the hallmarks of his hometown: grime, garage, dubstep. Kamaal Williams : Wu Hen By: Adam Blyweiss London-based musician Kamaal Williams is on the record disliking his instrumental work slotted as “jazz,” and I suppose I can understand why: He also performs under the stage name Henry Wu, creating a catalog of critically acclaimed funky house with many more releases and even a DJ Kicks mix to his credit. Product Label: Black Focus Records. [Aug 2020, p.39]. The album title is named after the nickname his maternal grandmother gave him and is a nod to his lineage as a descendant of the Wu Dynasty. Wu Hen based on ‘Wu’ itself translates to ‘gateway to heaven’, and from the get-go there’s an ethereal feel: harp flutters and shimmering violins from Flying Lotus collaborator Miguel Atwood-Ferguson swell on the opener Street Dreams before we’re catapulted sharply onto London roads with One More Time, bleeps playfully cutting into street chat samples. [Aug 2020, p.91], It's fastidiously realised, taking in gorgeously orchestrated jazz, hi-octane funk and a pristine slow jam featuring Lauren Faith. Aug 2020, p.68]. (Pitchfork earns a commission from purchases made through affiliate links on our site.). Privacy Policy © 2020 Guardian News & Media Limited or its affiliated companies. Williams’ music emphasizes the malleability and evolution of sound across styles and eras, even drifting into an R&B track voiced by the up-and-coming Lauren Faith stashed away near the album’s end. In his integrated approach genre, style, and production techniques all serve as building blocks in the creation of a holistic, spiritually instructive sound world. DJ-Kicks: Kamaal Williams (2019) Wu Hen (2020) Wu Hen is the second studio album of English musician Kamaal Williams, released on 24 July 2020 under his Black Focus label. - Williams puts away the keyboards and reverts to piano to state the lovely theme, when he’s joined by Mason’s breathy sax and pizzicato strings. The Christmas Steps © 2020 CBS Interactive Inc. All rights reserved. Terms of service Until then, Wu Hen plays as yet another approximation of a now-ended and once immensely creative partnership. Even Mason’s otherwise unobtrusive horn pushes to its harsher register, giving the song a harder edge. Cookie Notice Williams' forward-pushing, inter-generational sound - 70s fusion-era grooves mingle with modern club motifs - is fully formed on this second full solo outing. Williams’ music emphasizes the malleability and evolution of sound across styles and eras, even drifting into an R&B track voiced by the up-and-coming Lauren Faith stashed away near the album’s end. Boomkat Product Review: Wu Hen is the second album from Peckham's Kamaal Williams. Jobs It pays respect to the music it’s imitating and iterating upon, in all of its many forms and in spite of it, it manages to carve out a space in the scenes for itself. With a push and pull of sonics but an underlying, undeniable groove throughout, Wu Hen finds Kamaal Williams as explorative as ever, the kind of album you’d only get from a proper crate-digger. Crack Hops He succeeds, with some surprises, flirting with glittering soul on Hold On, featuring the slurry-smoky vocals of Lauren Faith. But Dayes and Williams soon splintered, never building on that keystone. Wu Hen should really be seen as Kamaal Williams’s debut album proper, navigating his internal dualities free from the echoes of Black Focus. For all of Williams’ penchant for blending together the electronic textures of different eras, the in-the-studio feel of this post-bop jazz throwback stands out, feeling spontaneous rather than carefully deliberated. Watch the video for 1989 by Kamaal Williams. Contact It is a brave and interesting departure from the remainder of the record, which includes the lacklustre balladry of Hold On and the underused talent of strings arranger Miguel Atwood-Ferguson on pensive opener Street Dreams. Wu Hen is the second studio album of English musician Kamaal Williams, released on 24 July 2020 under his Black Focus label. Yet, with each passing year, Black Focus grows in importance and resonance. Though undoubtedly a posterboy for the London jazz explosion, Kamaal Williams has always resisted categorisation. A similar trick occurs between the pliant balladry of “Big Rick” and the disco groove of “Save Me.” Drummer Greg Paul flips to double-time and Williams gets within shouting distance of the off-kilter dance tracks he makes as Henry Wu. Read more in Jazz → NOW PLAYING PAUSED. The needling synths and vocal ad-libs that jolt “One More Time” impart a craggy feel, but Rick Leon James’ supple bass throbs even it out, while Williams’ shimmering keyboard accompaniments find more space as we suddenly slip into “1989.” A decidedly more mellow take on the same groove, Quinn Mason’s buttery saxophone mixes eloquently into swells of scored strings, which come courtesy of guest Miguel Atwood-Ferguson, the L.A.-based multi-instrumentalist and arranger. Atop a gauzy sax a man’s voice is heard effusively telling a slang-filled story about swerving the police. The strings in particular work beautifully on the soporific funk of tunes like “1989” or “Toulouse”, suggesting a Xanaxed Roy Ayers recording for CTI in the mid-70s. Ground Work Sweet street dreams indeed. It continues to inform Williams’ subsequent releases, from his house music-indebted productions as Henry Wu to the group he helms now; he’s even adopted Black Focus as his label name.