Album Picks: Yussef Dayes – Black Classical Music [Brownswood Recordings]

Celebrated multi-instrumentalist and visionary artist Yussef Dayes released his highly anticipated debut solo studio album Black Classical Music via the revered Brownswood Recordings, Warners and Cashmere Thoughts Recordings.

Black Classical Music is Dayes 19 track debut solo studio album. At every turn, Dayes distinctive drum licks and Rocco Palladino’s bass are the sturdy anchors; aided by Charlie Stacey (keys/synths), Venna (saxophone), Alexander Bourt (percussion), and a whole host of honorable features including Chronixx, Masego, Jamilah Barry, Tom Misch, Elijah Fox, Shabaka Hutchings, Miles James, Sheila Maurice Grey, Nathaniel Cross, Theon Cross and the Chineke! Orchestra, the first professional orchestra in Europe to be made up of majority Black and ethnically diverse musicians.

He introduces Black Classical Music in his own words; What is jazz? Where did the word derive from? Birthed in New Orleans, born in the belly of the Mississippi River, rooted in the gumbo pot of the Caribbean, South American culture & African rituals. Continuing a lineage of Miles Davis, Rahssan Roland kirk, Nina Simone, John Coltrane, Louis Armstrong ~ music that is forever evolving & limitless in its potential. The groove, it’s feeling, the compositions, the spontaneity, with a love for family, the discipline & dedication in maintaining the very high bar set by the pantheon of Black Classical Musicians. Chasing the rhythm of drums that imitated one's heartbeat, the melodies for the mind and spirit, the bass for the core. A Regal sound for this body of music.

Yussef Dayes discography is expansive and wide-reaching; his rise can be first linked to the Afrocentric quartet, United Vibrations, alongside his two brothers - Ahmad and Kareem - and saxophonist, Wayne Francis. This was followed by the meteorically successful, but short-lived duo Yussef Kamaal, with keyboardist Kamaal Williams. More recently, Dayes released Live At Joshua Tree, an EP presented by Soulection, and other solo releases including the live album Welcome To The Hills and Love Is The Message, which was recorded Live at Abbey Road Studios

His list of collaborators is ever-growing and has blossomed to include the finest talents across both music and fashion. From 2020’s album What Kinda Music, a collaboration with Tom Misch released on Blue Note Records which charted in the Top 5, to an official remix of Pa Salieu’s Frontline, on Wizkid’s Made In Lagos album, plus production for R&B royalty in Kali Uchis and Kehlani and 2022’s joint release with Soulection entitled Live At Joshua Tree. The late Louis Vuitton innovator, Virgil Abloh, hand-picked Yussef to soundtrack and curate the LV dinner show for Paris Men’s Fashion Week in January 2019, as well as having Dayes perform at the Louis Vuitton Museum in Paris and collaborating on many other projects.

Listen to Yussef Dayes wonderful debut album Black Classical Music: