Kamaal Williams – Powerstation: November 6, 2022

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Kamaal Williams performed at Auckland’s Powerstation last night and Jeff Neems was there to take it all in. Here is his report.

Most international acts turn up in New Zealand, belt out the new or recent album, sprinkle the set with a few selections from the back catalogue, and consider that job done.

Kamaal Williams is not most artists.

In fact he’s far from it.

The Peckham-born artist is something of a creative chameleon. For starters, Kamaal Williams is not actually his real name. He releases electronic music – house and broken beat, mainly – under his given name Henry Wu, which is also uses for eclectic DJ sets which surge through various electronica styles and more global ethnic sounds.

He is also an underground graffiti writer, and more recently, he’s been dabbling in short film making. He launched the Black Focus label (a reference to the stunning 2016 album of the same name he did with the gifted drummer Yussef Dayes), and is now even branching out into a form of spoken word poetry.

Having openly rejected the labelling of his music as jazz, Williams – perhaps unsurprisingly – also appears to reject the notion fans turning up to concerts should get something they’re familiar with. Some audience members will find that confusing, and perhaps even a little jarring, while, others will be fascinated by the intricacy and fluidity of his current live performance offer.

The current Kamaal Williams ensemble sees him backed by synth-bassist Grant Windsor, drummer Samuel Laviso (who is truly exceptional) and saxophonist Quinn Mason. The four bring an energy and verve to the stage which few of their contemporaries can match. Not for them the tried-and-true method of rolling out a reliable and familiar set: if last night’s Powerstation performance (his first in New Zealand) is any gauge, the quartet change things up every night, delivering a world-class lesson in improvising live music to keep even the most committed and attentive fans guessing.

So if you showed up at the Powerstation last night expecting to hear note-perfect renditions of cuts from Black Focus, The Return or Wu Hen, you might’ve been left bemused and perhaps even disappointed – particularly if you didn’t hear Williams use that crucial term “improvised spiritual” during his opening address.

Now, I’m a close follower of Kamaal Williams, and I shot across to Sydney in 2018 to see him play with drummer Andy Findsen and legendary bassist Pino Palladino.  I had a reasonable idea of what last night’s show would entail – a languid, fluid and energetic blast of loosely connected musical styles driven by Williams multi-keyboard compositions, laid over a bed of crashing and thrashing cymbals, iced with just enough horn to take your breath away and a bass sound powerful enough to rock you in your very core.

It veers between new-school and more contemporary jazz, morphs into an electronic funk, and flirts with techno and house music.

And although at times it felt a little too loose, a little ragged, and even a little…. well, just made up on the spot, it was truly stunning in places. And the reason it’s like that is because it’s not all about Williams, who absolutely typifies the sound, style and swagger of 21s century London.

You see, as much as he is the conductor and maestro, throughout the hour-long set he made it clear it’s not just about him. It’s about the energy and spark the four musicians on stage create, and clearly feel among themselves when they work together.

If there can one complaint, it was that length of the performance. Although several tunes stretched out toward 10 minutes, it felt like things were only just really getting started, when just after the hour mark it was all over. The musicians embraced, high-fived a few folks in the front row, and then sauntered off.

There was a clear feeling everyone wanted some more – at the very least an encore of a single tune – but that wasn’t happening, and when the house lights came up there was a palpable sense of disappointment.

Perhaps that’s one of Kamaal Williams’ traits. As an ever-evolving artist, he doesn’t want to give too much away. He wants to retain a level of mystery and enigmatic charisma which keeps you guessing.

I’m reliably informed there were efforts to book a Williams show for Auckland when he toured Australia in 2018. Alas, that didn’t happen. The man himself mentioned the 27-hour journey to get to this part of the world to perform, so we can only hope next time he eyes Australia, he and whoever he is promoted by tack on an Auckland show again.

Fans of the new jazz sound have been spoiled this year, with gigs by Yussef Dayes, Emma Jean Thackry and Surprise Chef, and they got another solid dose last night at the Powerstation – even if Williams, who’s at the forefront of the sound, rejects the label.

But there’s nothing mainstream or predictable about Kamaal Williams, and that’s very much the attraction.

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