Interview, Omar Lye-Fook and Quentin Collins on their Jazz Cafe collaboration

With almost forty years in the music game, vocalist Omar Lye-Fook MBE, who performs mononymously as ‘Omar’, was an important figure in the British neo-soul scene, and probably best known for his 1991 smash hit ‘There’s Nothing Like This’. With a successful solo career in popular music, he’s also maintained a steady stream of collaborative projects, appearing alongside the likes of Stevie Wonder and Erykah Badu, as well as jazz multi-reedist Courtney Pine, and more recently with organ quartet QCBA fronted by trumpeter Quentin Collins and saxophonist Brandon Allen. QCBA have played with a number of different artists since their inception almost twenty years ago, in between all four of the members’ own careers as prolific sidemen, composers and arrangers. In May 2021, after numerous reschedulings, Omar and QCBA played a sold-out set at Camden’s London Jazz Cafe to a crowd of eager music fans, many of whom hadn’t heard a note of live music for over a year. That recording would become Live at Last, the quintet’s latest recording. Following the album’s release, and ahead of their appearance at the London Jazz Cafe on 31st March , Omar and Quentin were kind enough to chat with me about their new collaboration, their history together, and getting back into the swing of live performance.

Omar is in the middle of putting together his latest solo album at his home studio, and despite his time in the industry, he’s never lost that creative spark; “I still enjoy making music; I still get that fire in my belly when I’m putting down beats in my studio.” He’s hands-on in his approach to music, but isn’t afraid to bring on collaborators if something’s a little outside his comfort zone; “Some people call me a ‘scientist’ – always in the lab, trying new things… I play the instruments, produce, and arrange everything. When I think something’s a little out of my depth I’ll get someone in who I know can do a good job; there are a couple of tracks recently that use a twenty-piece orchestra, and I got Chris Cameron in to help with arrangements there – I told him I wanted it to sound like Henry Mancini and that’s exactly what I got! But I pretty much deal with everything – I’m the executive.”

Quentin Collins (left) & Brandon Allen (right)

I had this image of Omar, having released music since the 1990s, as being someone more used to the major labels – the bigger ‘music industry’ – and that his recent partnership with Ubuntu Music would be something of a new venture, but Omar is well-acquainted with independent labels; “my first records were released on my dad’s independent label, which was just him with a van full of 7” and 12” records he’d go around and sell to individual record shops. My last two albums – Love in Beats and The Man – were on Freestyle Records, who are independent as well, so I’m quite used to that. The only difference is that Ubuntu is a much more jazz-focussed label.” Quentin Collins is more than familiar with Ubuntu, being one of the label’s original co-founders alongside Martin Hummel. And even before QCBA existed, Quentin and Omar have collaborated for the best part of twenty years now; “I originally played keys in Omar’s band from around 2001-05” says Quentin, “then QCBA was formed under another name in 2008 and collaborated with many artists from the beginning, the first Omar + QCBA gig being around 2010.” “We just kinda kept going,” says Omar, “the formula worked. My music is jazz-influenced anyway, so it’s not much of a step to make it fit in a jazzier setting.” The band originally had founding member Ross Stanley – who still plays with QCBA – on piano, but as Collins recounts, “The organ thing (left hand bass then foot pedals) first started at the much missed Soho bar The Black Gardenia where the ceiling was too low for double bass players!”

Following over a year without true live music, Omar + QCBA’s Live at Last was recorded during one of the first shows at the newly reopened London Jazz Cafe in Camden Town, and you can hear that in the energy of the crowd; “I’ve played at the Jazz Cafe before,” says Omar, “but this is the first time it’s ever been a sit-down gig… well, they weren’t sitting down when the show really got going!”. “It was electric” recounts Quentin, “I think people were perhaps slightly on-edge too, the band included, since we hadn’t performed for several months! But the response after each solo and song was really special”. Playing in a more jazz-centric setting also freshens things up for Omar, as he says, rather than having to play the frontman role; “I love doing these kinds of gigs – when I did an album and toured with Courtney Pine, I’d sing at the beginning of the song, sit back for the 20-minute solo section, then come in at the end and finish it off! When it’s my own show I’m basically carrying the whole thing, so it’s pretty different.” Quentin also feels Omar’s music is very much at home with this band; “Most songs stem from the setlists from when I was in Omar’s band all those years ago – it’s the harmonies and songforms that drive the choices, and most if not all of Omar’s songs lend themselves well to a jazz interpretation.”

Omar himself is keen to keep the door open for more jazz-heavy projects in the future; “Courtney [Pine]’s been on my case forever saying ‘you’ve gotta do a jazz album! Just do it!’” but in the meantime, both Omar and QCBA have a pretty packed schedule for 2022; “Right now I’m finishing my ninth album, so that’s what I’m concentrating on” says Omar, “and things are pretty non-stop now touring’s started again. I’m about to use my passport for the second time in two years, which is unreal!” Omar and QCBA return to the London Jazz Cafe on the 31st for their album launch show, along with a handful of Summer tour dates in support of Live at Last.

Tickets for Omar & QCBA at the London Jazz Cafe on 31st March are available here.