It’s heartening to arrive at a concert and see a bunch of very fashionable people who all seem to be in very good moods. Anticipation grows as they cloak bags, grab drinks, and sneak a peek at merch, all tugged along by an eager current.
Couples who all seem to be on their third date (mark this concert down as a big green flag) huddle together as minutes tick by. Everyone eagerly awaits the man who knows what to do with the giant metal sculpture on stage.
He emerges from the smoke, dressed in a striped yellow pyjama suit. He’s wearing his signature bucket hat. His bandmates also got the matching set memo. He sits down, looking like he’ll say something. He will. Just without words.
London-born Yussef Dayes has carved out a highly unique sound for himself, no small feat in jazz drumming. After many avant-garde collaborative projects, Dayes released his debut solo album, Black Classical Music, in 2023. The record celebrates the drummer’s eclectic musical influences, and its features from family and friends speak to its creator’s intimate connections with, and through, jazz. It’s on this record that Dayes masters his rapid but tasteful, chaotic but precise drumming style.
The concert opens with the album’s titular song, a regal and atmospheric piece reminiscent of Miles Davis and Herbie Hancock’s sprawling tracks. The former influence can be chalked up to Dayes’ time learning under Billy Cobham, the legendary drummer who gave Miles Davis’ music much of its famed energy. Rapid cymbal work, creative drum fills and satisfying full-band hits make this punchy track a perfect opener.
The Opera House Concert Hall, with its towering ceilings and 3000-person capacity, risked blending Dayes’ complex beats into a sonic mush. Potentially disastrous for this kind of music, venues like these have historically been designed to enhance the swells of an orchestra, or the resonance of an operatic voice. But the sound engineers rose to the challenge. Dayes’ highly contemporary fusion of jazz, reggae and afrobeat was impeccably mixed, his drums tuned with intention and musicality.
Dayes’ touring kit is at its most maximalist; three Rototoms (drums you can retune live) sit by a snare and toms, surrounded by a careful selection of cymbals. Other additions are clap stacks (think onomatopoeia), a jam block (plastic cowbell), a flexatone (please, just search this one up, the best way I can describe it is: it goes boingoingoing) and a splash cymbal (again, onomatopoeia). Nothing felt superfluous, and frequently Dayes incorporates an aresenal of sounds into a beat, for example in the Latin-inspired ‘Chasing the Drum.’
A new generation of musicians has revitalised the London jazz scene in recent years. Artists like Alfa Mist, Ezra Collective and Tom Misch set high standards, experimenting with time signature, worldwide sounds and digital production. When Alfa Mist brought their cosmic jazz to Sydney last year for Vivid, each band member was stronger than the last.
This might be where the Yussef Dayes Experience falters.
His bandmates are not quite on his level. Dayes shines most alongside creatives who match his skill and confidence. He is, of course, touring a solo album, but without some key collaborative tracks, the show risks growing repetitive. Dayes himself seemed disillusioned at times; as songs ended, he would raise his sticks, expectantly looking around for a quick jam or trashcan ending. Rarely did the band play ball, and at one point Dayes let his sticks fall in a show of maybe-not-so-faux disappointment.
If you want to change your life for the better, ditch this article and search YouTube for Yussef Dayes’ Malibu and Joshua Tree sessions. Notably missing from the Opera House performance was percussionist Alexander Bourt, who brought an essential fifth dimension to the band’s soundscape of jazz in these videos. His tight work was exactly what was missing from tonight’s performance.
Rocco Palladino’s bass laid a solid foundation, his distortion regrettably cranked to 11, and strums and harmonics in his ‘Tioga Pass’ solo intrigued. Elijah Fox, aka ‘Mr. Octopus’, flourished on the keyboard, with clear influences from ‘70s funk to dreamy arpeggios that sounded straight out of a Nintendo game. Guest guitarist Ivy Alexander rocked a few soaring solos; her shredding was an unexpected, yet welcome, addition to the setlist. Her improvisations were hindered by being in complete darkness, though, thanks to a lighting oversight.
Despite saxophonist Malik Venna’s melodies growing a little homogenous, he played with beautiful dynamic range and sensitivity, his sound a distinctive element of Dayes’ tranquil style.
YD’s breakneck chops rarely went overboard. Occasionally he drilled too many hi-hats into a trap-inspired beat, or tried to cover too much of his kit, but it was clear that Dayes was pushing himself. In doing so, however, he might be hitting the limits of common-time jazz drumming. By the performance’s sixty-minute mark it was necessary to mix up the time signature or depart from the trademark sound.
I’m sure that exploring odd time signatures would be light work for Dayes, as his fantastically tight performance convinced me that he experiences time differently to us humans. That could be the only explanation for the otherworldly talent that is Yussef Dayes.
