Kamaal Williams: The Keys of Wu

Going deep into the making of Kamaal Williams’ new album The Return.

Shape-shifting producer and keyboard player Kamaal Williams aka Henry Wu is back in business. Following the unprecedented success of Yussef Kamaal’s Black Focus, with drummer Yussef Dayes, Williams formed a new label of the same name, shacked up in the studio with McNasty, Pete Samuels and Richard Martin and dropped The Return, pre-orders of which pushed the jazz-funk odyssey towards the top of the official UK charts for a hot minute.

Stepping into the studio, Kamaal invited us in to get a closer look at how some of the that signature “Wu Funk” sound is put together, drawing on the likes of Herbie Hancock and Joe Zawinul to manipulate a range of analogue synthesizers, from the Nord Electro on ‘The Return’, The Juno 106 on ‘Catch The Loop’, and a heart-broken Wurlizter on ‘Medina’ to a moving rendition of live ballad ‘Situation’ on a grand piano.

Watch the video above and grab your copy of The Return here.