Kamaal Williams, AKA Henry Wu, reveals debut album, The Return

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  • Described as a 'natural evolution' from Williams' Yussef Kamaal project, it comes out on his Black Focus Records label in May.
  • Kamaal Williams, AKA Henry Wu, reveals debut album, The Return image
  • Kamaal Williams, the London-based jazz fusion artist also known as Henry Wu, has announced his debut album, The Return. The Return sees Williams playing keyboards as part of a group that includes bassist Pete Martin and drummer MckNasty, along with sound engineer Richard Samuels. We're told the album is a "natural evolution" from Yussef Kamaal, his now-disbanded collaboration with Yussef Dayes that resulted in a a 2016 LP, Black Focus, for Gilles Peterson's Brownswood Recordings. The new album's ten tracks, one of which also features guitarist Mansur Brown, are described as "mining the influence of visionary jazz" while featuring "all kinds of texture, sounds and signals from the over-saturated London streets." It's due out in May through Williams's fledgling Black Focus Records. Williams has drawn attention in recent years for an adventurous sound that draws on jazz, funk, soul, hip-hop, house and beyond. He first surfaced as Henry Wu in 2014 with records for Motor City Drum Ensemble's label, Eglo and Rhythm Section International. Listen to The Return track "Salaam."
    Tracklist 01. Salaam 02. Broken Theme 03. The Return 04. High Roller 05. Situations (Live In Milan) 06. Catch The Loop (Album Version) 07. Rhythm Commission 08. Medina 09. LDN Shuffle feat. Mansur Brown 10. Aisha Black Focus Records will release The Return on May 25th, 2018. Photo credit: Salem Wazaki
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