• Record Label: N/A
  • Release Date: May 25, 2018
Metascore
76

Generally favorable reviews - based on 9 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 8 out of 9
  2. Negative: 0 out of 9
Buy Now
Buy on
  1. Jul 16, 2018
    80
    This album signifies a moment for UK jazz but more importantly this a moment for Kamaal Williams.
  2. Jul 16, 2018
    80
    There is a timelessness to this record that's as connected to the electric jazz pioneers of the '70s as it is to today's best fusion players.
  3. Jul 16, 2018
    80
    Overall The Return is a vital addition to both the budding career of Kamaal Williams, and to modern jazz as a whole.
  4. Jul 16, 2018
    80
    It’s a sweet snapshot of London 2018--an encapsulation of a newly brewing jazz community, uniting numerous cultural strands that make up the city. When the scene needed him most, Kamaal Williams returned to show the way.
  5. Uncut
    Jul 16, 2018
    80
    "High Roller" and "Medina" are laidback and elegant, blessed with Wu's dazzling, twinkling keyboard runs. But "Broken Theme" adds a note of challenge. [Jun 2018, p.37]
  6. Jul 27, 2018
    70
    While not a perfect album--there are moments wherein it feels like the musicians are too focused on sonic replication to truly put any sort of heart and soul behind the grooves--The Return is nonetheless another fine release in the ever-increasing catalog of fascinating 21st century jazz records.
  7. Jul 16, 2018
    70
    One of the best aspects of The Return is how balanced the songs feel, weaving in bits of modern electronic dance and hip-hop flourishes as on the stuttering, breakbeat-infused "Catch the Loop," and the equally kinetic "Broken Theme." While The Return implies, and often delivers on, Williams' clear desire to recapture the plasmic spirit of vintage '70s jazz-funk, the album is less of a return to past traditions and more of a rebirth.
  8. The Wire
    Jul 16, 2018
    70
    ["LDN Shuffle" is] the most obviously exciting track of the set, but the more representative things are slower and more measured. [Jun 2018, p.64]
  9. Mojo
    Jul 16, 2018
    60
    Yet for all the invention and undeniably impressive groove control, there are lulls when their meditative update of '70s fusion stars Lonnie Liston Smith, Herbie Hancock and Roy Ayers slicks into something wallpapery, doodly and unselfconsciously by-numbers. [Aug 2018, p.95]

There are no user reviews yet.