Multi-instrumentalist, producer, and composer Yussef Dayes, who begins a US tour in Brooklyn on Thursday, has shared a live-performance video filmed in the Malibu mountains, backed by a hazy, golden-hour sunset. He and longtime collaborators Rocco Palladino, Venna, Elijah Fox, and Alexander Bourt showcase their musicianship across thirty minutes of music from his debut album, Black Classical Music, and more. The record was released to critical acclaim in September via Brownswood Recordings, Warner Music, and Cashmere Thoughts Recordings and in the US on Nonesuch Records, and has just landed at No. 6 on Rough Trade's list of the Best Albums of 2023. You can watch the Malibu performance here:

Dayes performed the title track to Black Classical Music on BBC Two’s Later… With Jools Holland on Friday. You can watch that performance here:

Yussef Dayes and his band kick off a tour of the United States featuring music from Black Classical Music at Warsaw in Brooklyn this Thursday, followed by shows in Boston, Philadelphia, Chicago, Atlanta, Nashville, Seattle, Los Angeles, Miami, Austin, and more. A complete list of US dates may be found below and at nonesuch.com/on-tour.

“My debut album is an art piece that has been in the works since the beginning,” Dayes says of Black Classical Music. “Feelings of love, healing, grief, inspiration, more life, unity, groove, spirit, and travels. This album is the embodiment of my life to this point. For everyone that has supported my art or is discovering my music now, I am grateful to be able to share this with you. Thank you to my team and all of the collaborators for helping me bring this vision to life. Sharing vibes and sounds from the UK, rooted in the gumbo pot of the Caribbean, South American culture, and African rituals. Black Classical Music is an exploration of my own personal journey and musical style.”

Yussef Dayes’ drum licks and Rocco Palladino’s bass are the anchors to Dayes’ nineteen-track debut solo studio album, aided by Charlie Stacey (keys/synths), Venna (saxophone), Alexander Bourt (percussion), and a host of features including: Chronixx, Masego, Jamilah Barry, Tom Misch, Elijah Fox, Shabaka Hutchings, Miles James, Sheila Maurice Grey, Nathaniel Cross, Theon Cross, and the Chineke! Orchestra—the first professional orchestra in Europe to be made up of majority Black and ethnically diverse musicians.

Yussef Dayes’ career is expansive and wide reaching; his rise can be first linked to the Afrocentric quartet United Vibrations, alongside his two brothers, Ahmad and Kareem, and saxophonist Wayne Francis. This was followed by the highly successful but short-lived duo Yussef Kamaal, with keyboardist Kamaal Williams. More recently, Dayes released Live at Joshua Tree, an EP presented by Soulection, and other solo releases including the live album Welcome to the Hills and Love Is the Message, which was recorded live at Abbey Road Studios.

His extensive list of collaborators includes talents across both music and fashion—from 2020’s Top 5-charting collaboration with Tom Misch, What Kinda Music (Blue Note), to an official remix of Pa Salieu’s “Frontline” on Wizkid’s Made in Lagos album to production for R&B artists Kali Uchis and Kehlani. Dayes had a special artistic relationship with the late Louis Vuitton innovator Virgil Abloh, who hand-picked him to soundtrack and curate a Louis Vuitton dinner show for Paris Men’s Fashion Week and invited him to perform at the Louis Vuitton Museum in Paris, among other collaborations.

YUSSEF DAYES US TOUR