NPR

First Listen: Kamaal Williams, 'The Return'

Williams is a central figure in London's jazz renaissance. Stream the producer's debut full-length in its entirety.
Kamaal Williams' <em>The Return </em>comes out May 25.

The Return, keyboardist and producer Kamaal Williams' debut full-length as a bandleader, presents ideas about London's renewed flirtation with jazz and improvisation that are both illuminating and misleading. Yet this collection of instrumental miniatures also underlines what continues to make the city's music exciting, presenting another chapter in its decades-long rhythm-culture continuum, an inter-generational mix that pushes things forward.

Funny thing is, isn't a jazz record at all — a fact made slightly odder by its billing, an album that was partially driven by Williams' keyboards, and which really is among London's recent jazz masterworks. Credited to the duo (Williams' short-lived project with long-time colleague, drummer Yussef Dayes), was an electric, eccentric dervish, a rhythm section record that veered between expansive ambiance, frenetic invention and compositional poise, celebrating fusion-era textures and grooves that London has been using as musical building blocks at least since jungle's love affair with and. When Yussef Kamaal got heavy — as on the incredible "" — they were plugging into the city's original musical software, but also updating it.

You’re reading a preview, subscribe to read more.

More from NPR

NPR4 min read
Tyla Is The New Face Of African Pop. She's Aiming To Take Over The Whole World
The South African singer brought a homegrown genre, amapiano, to new ears with a viral hit and a Grammy. With her debut album, she wants to prove the world is ready for a full-blown African pop star.
NPR6 min read
Can Grief Make Us Accident-prone? A Writer Learns How It Destabilizes And Remakes Us
After a fall near the first anniversary of her beloved aunt's death, a writer explored why grief can make us less sure-footed. She found answers, climbing a precarious staircase in Italy.
NPR5 min read
Why A Town On The Front Line Of America's Energy Transition Isn't Letting Go Of Coal
Kemmerer, Wyo., is on the front line of America's energy transition, with its coal plant slated to close and a nuclear plant in the works. But some think the rush to quit fossil fuels is impractical.

Related Books & Audiobooks