Yussef Dayes: Give the Drummer Your Full Attention
If the drummer kept stealing your attention at the last show, keep going. Yussef Dayes has an entire world waiting behind the kit.
His 2023 solo studio debut, Black Classical Music, brings nineteen tracks and an impressive gathering of musicians into the conversation. Dayes’s release notes identify his drums and Rocco Palladino’s bass as the anchors, with Charlie Stacey on keys and synths, Venna on saxophone and Alexander Bourt on percussion.
Those names matter. It is tempting to file a record beneath its bandleader and leave everyone else in the small print. Here, the credits offer a much more useful way to explore: find a part that catches your attention, then find the person responsible.
Begin with the title track, which features Venna and Stacey. Follow it with “Rust,” featuring Tom Misch, and “Tioga Pass,” featuring Palladino. Three selections, three opportunities to notice how the company around a drummer changes the conversation.
Dayes also places the album within a continuing Black musical lineage, connecting composition and spontaneity with family and discipline. That is a generous invitation for a newcomer: bring curiosity, listen for the relationships, and let the labels catch up later.
The title track has an official video linked from the release campaign, too. For anyone who loves watching musicians communicate, that is an excellent next stop.
Explore the official release and listening links.
Official release artwork. Cover photography: Barbara Hicks; artwork design: Barka; collage: Mary Maguire and Barka. Source: Brownswood Recordings / Cashmere Thoughts / Warner Music; US release: Nonesuch. Artwork source.