In the underexposed cover photos, we see men hanging around mysteriously. They talk on the phone or chill in a car with their eyes hidden behind hoodies and caps. The music of this London trio, named after their keyboardist Kamaal Williams, is precisely this vague-dark atmosphere. He is at the forefront of the London jazz renaissance that emerged from the hip-hop and dance world. As a DJ and producer
… he is better known as Henry Wu. He made the acclaimed album (2016) with drummer , as the duo . They have since been banned, but The Return is a continuation of Black Focus. The big city jazz of Kamaal Williams (the band) harks back to the fusion and in particular the CTI jazz of the seventies. The sweltering playing on Williams' Fender Rhodes, against a wall of crackling broken beats, simultaneously evokes a dark tension that is unmistakably contemporary. As the soundtrack for a contemporary blaxpoitation film. (MR)more
