Dekmantel Podcast 178 - Kamaal Williams

Kamaal Williams has almost single handedly made jazz cool again. The exceptional keys player first did so as part of the now sadly disbanded Yussef Kamaal. Their debut album Black Focus was widely heralded as a modern great, and will soon be followed up by The Return, which finds Williams link with bassist Pete Martin, drummer MckNasty and sound engineer Richard Samuels. It is said to be a natural successor that deals in the sounds of the London streets as well as plenty of visionary jazz. Williams himself also makes soul infused broken beats and house as Henry Wu on labels like MCDE and Eglo and plays mesmeric live shows, so is one of the most vital characters in the modern music landscape. Before he plays for us a Lente Kabinet he has served up a special one hour mix that offers up plenty of his inspirations and influences. From high speed jazz funk to languid, worldly jazz via transcendental guitars and summery soul, it bares all the beautiful hallmarks of Williams’s own music and makes perfect sense in warm weather.