Yussef Dayes: Live From Malibu
Author: Jane Cornwell
View record and artist detailsRecord and Artist Details
Musicians: |
Venna (s) |
Label: |
Brownswood Recordings/Nonesuch |
Magazine Review Date: |
April/2024 |
Media Format: |
CD, LP, DL |
Catalogue Number: |
BWOOD346 |
RecordDate: |
Rec. 2023 |
Few drummers hit as fast, and with such delicate sting at so fierce a pace, as the London-based Yussef Dayes does. To watch him groove, directing his musicians with a nod, a rhythmic pattern, a sonic conversation, is to experience a young maestro at work - and some of the finest black classical music this side of anywhere.
Dayes' lauded 2023 studio debut Black Classical Music - a rousing yet meditative mix of everything from jazz, reggae and classical music to blues, hip hop and breakbeats - piqued conversations around genre and systematic racism in the same way that, say, black musical heroes from Coltrane to Miles to Nina did, and at the time of writing has seen Dayes nominated for two Brit Awards.
This superb live recording, filmed and recorded on a sun-set coastal clifftop in Malibu, captures his band's telepathic flow, all the more obvious without the guest vocalist/rappers that pepper the studio album. A previously unreleased track, 'The Colour Purple' reaffirms Dayes' knack for writing arrangements in which contrast - galloping kick-snare breakbeats, meandering golden sax lines - is key. Highlights are many: the slow-burning 'Tioga Pass' featuring Rocco Palladino showcases the bassist's freewheeling prowess and crucial role as co-anchor; the 6'45"-long 'Black Classical Music' includes a drums-conga wig-out that elevates the already simmering tension.

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