Dave Okumu

Singer, songwriter, producer, and multi-instrumentalist Dave Okumu has led a multifaceted career encompassing work with pop stars, dance artists, jazz ensembles, and soul singers. He worked with Róisín Murphy, Daniel Bedingfield, Matthew Herbert, 4Hero, and many others during the 2000s, and formed the indie electronic group the Invisible, who released their Mercury Prize-nominated eponymous debut in 2009. Okumu co-wrote and co-produced Jessie Ware’s lauded 2012 debut album Devotion and continued collaborating with the singer in addition to working with Adele, Lianne La Havas, Jordan Rakei, and others. In 2021 he released the instrumental hip-hop album Knopperz as well as The Solution Is Restless, a collaboration with Joan as Police Woman and Tony Allen. I Came from Love, a guest-heavy outing credited to Dave Okumu & the 7 Generations and inspired by the artist’s ancestral history, appeared in 2023. Dave Okumu was born in Vienna, where his father, Kenyan peace campaigner Professor Washington Okumu, was in exile. The family moved to London when he was ten years old, and he began playing music shortly thereafter, first showing an interest in trumpet before taking up guitar. Following university, Okumu became a part of the jazz education and development organization Tomorrow's Warriors, and performed one of his compositions at the London Jazz Festival. He also played with two longtime friends, bassist Tom Herbert and drummer Tom Skinner, in several groups, including funk/fusion band Jade Fox. Okumu played guitar on Daniel Bedingfield’s blockbuster 2002 debut Gotta Get Thru This, and also co-wrote, sang, or appeared on records by Terri Walker, Matthew Herbert, Les Nubians, Us3, and numerous others. Okumu started the Invisible in 2006, initially as a solo project before quickly expanding into a full band with drummer Leo Taylor and Tom Herbert on bass and keyboards. Blending neo-soul, indie rock, and alternative dance, the band released their first album, The Invisible, on Matthew Herbert’s Accidental label in 2009, received a Mercury Prize nomination. The group then moved to Ninja Tune for subsequent efforts Rispah (2012) and Patience (2016). While active with the Invisible, Okumu continued his collaborative work, creating music with artists including Robert Miles, V.V. Brown, Toddla T, and Jessie Ware. Okumu co-wrote and co-produced Ware’s highly acclaimed 2012 debut Devotion, which received a Mercury Prize nomination. Okumu worked on subsequent Ware albums as well as Adele’s 25, Lianne La Havas’ Blood, Nilüfer Yanya’s Miss Universe, and many other releases. Okumu played bass on Sky Blue Room, a 2018 collaboration with singer/keyboardist Gwilym Gold and drummer Dan See. Undone: Live at the Crypt, a jazz session with Tom Herbert and Tom Skinner, was released in late 2019. Knopperz, a beat-driven instrumental interpretation of collaborator Duval Timothy’s 2017 album Sen Am, was released by Transgressive Records in 2021, the first album credited to Okumu solo. The Solution Is Restless, a collaboration with Joan as Police Woman and the late Afrobeat drummer Tony Allen, appeared on PIAS the same year. Okumu also began working with an expansive cast of collaborators for his next project, including Grace Jones, Tom Skinner, Wesley Joseph, and ESKA. Drawing from the writings of James Baldwin and Aimé Cesaire as well as Okumu’s family history, I Came from Love was digitally issued in multiple chapters, leading up to its full release in April of 2023. Okumu additionally appeared on the 2023 release London Brew, a fusion project featuring notable British jazz musicians like Nubya Garcia, Shabaka Hutchings, and Theon Cross. ~ Paul Simpson