London jazz wizard Shabaka Hutchings: Sons of Kemet / The Comet Is Coming / Shabaka & the Ancestors

I'm a little surprised Hutchings doesn't have a thread yet--he's surely as deserving as Kamasi Washington. Hutchings' blend of tastes and influences is more my style, though the comparison isn't particularly useful.

The new Sons of Kemet, "Your Queen Is a Reptile," has been justly praised in various threads: clarinet & sax, tuba for the basslines, two drummers, a bit of exhilarating anti-fascist verse.

Spaced out where SoK is earthy, The Comet Is Coming's "Channel the Spirits" starts off sounding kind of like an update on "Lawrence of Newark," but touches down in a thumping dance club towards the end. I haven't listened to Shabaka & the Ancestors yet (a collab with South African musicians), though I am excited to.

Anyone seen any of his groups live? I am kicking myself for waiting until now to get into this and missing SoK at the Jazz Festival.

I have the SoK record and it is good, def curious to hear more

He's on a US tour right now - playing Brooklyn tonight. Wish I could make it.

I interviewed him (along with fellow saxophonist Nubya Garcia and trumpeter Yazz Ahmed) back in January:

http://burningambulance.com/2018/01/19/ba-podcast-8-uk-jazz-roundtable/

Οὖτις: Channel the Spirits is a lot messier than YQIAR, but I might actually prefer it, at least the first half

unperson, how is the Ancestors album? I will definitely check out your podcast, thanks for the link

The Sons of Kemet album is beyond brilliant, at times dude plays sax like he's a soundclash.

I barely even hear it as jazz really, although of course it is, but there's all this afrobeat and dub and dancehall and grime in there as well, especially the more frenetic passages. Not to over labour the point but there's one bit where he's basically playing the same note over and over again but attacking it in a way that sounds like he's channeling Busy Signal or Aidonia or someone.

Pretty sure Shabaka was the main thing I liked about the Melt Yourself Down album from a few years ago, but this new one feels fresher and more quintessentially London somehow. I'm not surprised it's caught fire.

That tuba guy turns up everywhere as well, he's in Kano's backing band iirc.

Not to over labour the point but there's one bit where he's basically playing the same note over and over again but attacking it in a way that sounds like he's channeling Busy Signal or Aidonia or someone.

In our conversation, he talks about how he really dislikes the virtuosity model of jazz greatness, and strives to play what he calls "stupid sax" - opting for emotional impact over tricky flurries of notes.

I like the Ancestors album a lot - and supposedly there will be another.

xp
absolutely--all those influences are there and it's remarkable how naturally they're evoked by a largely acoustic group (iirc all the instruments are live but there's some dubby production on some tracks).

Looking further back, I was listening to the first couple volumes of the London Is the Place for Me comps a lot right before picking this up, which turned out to be a fortuitous prologue. I'm also reminded of the syncretic style of Cedric Brooks & the Light of Saba.

I barely even hear it as jazz really, although of course it is, but there's all this afrobeat and dub and dancehall and grime in there as well, especially the more frenetic passages. Not to over labour the point but there's one bit where he's basically playing the same note over and over again but attacking it in a way that sounds like he's channeling Busy Signal or Aidonia or someone.

The interweaving of different influences almost feels like it should be a bit too on the nose - in the abstract you could make comparisons to all of those live dub bands (oddly, often from New Zealand) from about 15 years ago like Salmonella Dub, who would weave in elements of drum and bass and dancehall and so on and could fall prey to a kind of united colours of benetton international rootsical vibes well-meaning wash-out. But the execution here is so astoundingly good, so consistently captivating, that it totally escapes that aura.

also new orleans brass band music and ethio-jazz in there

sons of kemet is playing here in the next month or so, i'm thinking about it but though i love everything else i've heard by shabaka sons of kemet didn't grab me, maybe i should give it another shot

ooh Doug Fir Lounge, there's usually really good sound in that venue fwiw

on a Monday though :(

yeah that doesn't help either. the beths are playing the doug fir next monday, i'm considering it (but probably won't go).

Taking my wife and father-in-law (who haven't heard them) to the Seattle show next weekend. So psyched!

Hmmmm, wonder if the DC show is sold out Thursday

The interweaving of different influences almost feels like it should be a bit too on the nose - in the abstract you could make comparisons to all of those live dub bands (oddly, often from New Zealand) from about 15 years ago like Salmonella Dub, who would weave in elements of drum and bass and dancehall and so on and could fall prey to a kind of united colours of benetton international rootsical vibes well-meaning wash-out. But the execution here is so astoundingly good, so consistently captivating, that it totally escapes that aura.

I've not heard the bands you're talking about but I can well imagine, every country with a festival circuit has a few of them*. I think one reason why that doesn't happen here is because they're not so much interweaving styles as as exploring the space between them, unearthing the common ground.

When I talk about dancehall or grime turning up in the music I'm talking about elements of phrasing and rhythm that a listener who wasn't into those genres might not even notice, rather than overt sonic imprints. 3mins 55 into 'My Queen Is Harriet Tubman' for example, but there are plenty of occasions where he slips from playing like a jazz saxophonist to playing like a rave MC, and I'm sure it's deliberate. (45mins 25 into My Queen is Angela Davis, that's another one).

The one with Congo Natty is the only track where you can go "ah, they're doing x now". But when you get him on a track you're putting up a big signpost whatever.

Not to mention the fact that the music is so tied up with ideas of resistance (specifically black female resistance) that something would have to be going very wrong for it to give off the kind of vibe you're talking about.

*I'm imagining some kind of jazz Roni Size meets Dreadzone type thing which is probably worse than anything you're talking about here.

saw SoK in Istanbul a few years back, party was rockin

Is there a wider thread for the current London jazz scene? Recent releases from Nerija, Joe Armon-Jones and Moses Boyd have been fantastic.

a listener who wasn't into those genres might not even notice

this is me! I'll take your word for it. I can definitely tell that there's a lot of non-trad jazz phrasing going on

I listened to the Shabaka and the Ancestors album this morning, for the first time in a few months. There's so much going on in there - there's jazz, gospel, some dub effects, songs in African languages, but it all works together as a whole. I love it.

super awesome that acid jazz is back in style, i’m stoked

:-D

is this an acid hat?

https://c1.staticflickr.com/4/3898/14820073938_45db64a74e_b.jpg

word to that hat!!

"Recent releases from Nerija, Joe Armon-Jones and Moses Boyd have been fantastic."

Alive In The East is such a good album, sick drummer!

spiritual hat

Huh, I should probably go see them for free at the university on Thursday

I was looking forward to seeing them at Koko, Camden and thought it was significant Sons had managed to get into such a big venue. But it seems Koko's been closed for "structural issues" - sounds fairly serious. I guess it'll be moved.

Shabaka appears on 2 tracks on the debut album by South African jazz group Mabuta, which is out today:

https://mabuta.bandcamp.com/album/welcome-to-this-world

Saw Sons of Kemet this past Thursday in a small basement club in Washington DC. Wow, a ferocious sound attack from the sax and tuba, and then the 2 drummers with the galloping, drum & bass beats. The songs often started tunefully and then got a bit more out there via the horns shrieking more at the end of each number (but the drum rhythms helped keep it from just going into free jazz improv territory).

I listened to the Shabaka and the Ancestors album this morning, for the first time in a few months. There's so much going on in there - there's jazz, gospel, some dub effects, songs in African languages, but it all works together as a whole. I love it.

― grawlix (unperson), Thursday, September 27, 2018 11:15 AM (six days ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

I finally got around to listening to this and it is incredible. Spiritual hat aficionados will especially be into it.

And if you like it, do check out albums by Nduduzo Makhathini, the keyboardist (and occasional vocalist) from the band. He's doing terrific work that's not getting much attention outside South Africa, as far as I know. I wish a US label would pick up his music for distribution.

any recommendation on which Makhathini album to start with?

btw, I listened to your podcast with Hutchings, Ahmed, and Garcia--great interview! and now I need to follow up on both of them too

His most recent one, Ikhambi, is the one I'm most familiar with. It's on Spotify (in the US, anyway):

https://open.spotify.com/album/7aonkfRAyRNSHKIpfyi2Jm?si=G_lSyubMRHWo4V9HoHMMvQ

His whole catalog is up there, in fact.

Went to the show last night and they were great, very danceable.

Also struck me how close some of this music is to Masada, at the end of the night I realized I had this tune in my head:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BzIzSXnpwP0

I like the tuba player a lot, but I can't help compare all tuba players to New Orleans guys and Youngbl00d Brass Band, and then I feel like a snob. But he said that Nat from YBB was his main inspiration, so I no longer felt bad.

Saw them on Friday, holy shit that was like a top ten of all time show (not that I would or could ever consider making such a list). From the records I hadn't even registered there were two drummers; incredible energy from them, no gaps between songs and they took one break in a 90 minute set.

the drum rhythms helped keep it from just going into free jazz improv territory

u+k imo.

just listening to Maisha's There Is a Place album .. nice!

I'm losing count of all the top albums coming out of London this year.

The Maisha album is fantastic - gonna write about it for Stereogum for sure.

that looks great (beautiful cover too).

as briefly mentioned by upper mississippi shakedown and me on the rolling jazz thread, Shabaka and a couple other Londoners play on the new Makaya McCraven album Universal Beings, which I would highly recommend

Emanative's Earth is another good one, this lot are not pissing about at the moment.

only heard the first SoK record but I was pretty fascinated by the way it almost had this dub-like sound to it. it felt like there was some element missing...another horn, guitar, something. idk anything about jazz though. definitely a very good record.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Nk9P3eO4p0

on a big shabaka kick lately, has he really released no solo material? this performance leaves me so hungry

I listened to The Comet Is Coming record last week after playing Sons of Kemet to death and it just feels a little tepid in comparison? I was expecting crazy space jazz but it was all a bit safe, a bit Caribou, without the fire of Your Queen Is A Reptile.

Given all that what's the best place to go next?

maisha's there is a place is v good.

Well worth checking the Makaya McCraven stuff - albeit Shabaka is only a guest on a few tracks. Universal Beings is quite a thing.

has he really released no solo material?

There's a fanastic track on the We Out Here complition credited to solo Shabaka. His work with Sarathy Korwar is worth a listen too. (As is SK's own stuff.)

There's a new The Comet Is Coming due in March - I haven't heard the whole thing, because like Matt DC I feel like TCIC is the weakest of all Hutchings' projects.

Bought the two Emanative full-lengths on Bandcamp today, thanks for the recommendation upthread.

Yeah my initial enthusiasm for TCIC cooled pretty quickly--it's not bad but there are fewer ideas than in his other groups. The SoK and Ancestors albums are much better.

I've been digging the A.R.E. Project record with hieroglyphic being and sarathy korwar lately, that's pretty out there, tabla & sax cosmic and pounding house bliss that in some moments sounds a bit like GAS and in most other moments very much does not. although the hectic riffage in parts of your queen is a reptile is what initially hooked me I think some of the slightly more restrained/less immediate pieces on that are gorgeous. I know the black skin, black masks track & it's great but I'd love some proper solo stuff like in that live video where he's like a more expansive and nimble colin stetson, it's just gorgeous and I guess I love solo performers more than most. following him around is a good way of getting into all sorts of stuff though, the lad really gets about! a proper hodologist.

finally got around to ordering We Out Here. p great, not sure what I like the best on it. There's one showy electric guitar-led track that I def am not into

New Theon Cross (tuba player in SoK) album sounds promising: https://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/theon-cross-fyah/
Anyone here heard the whole thing yet? (unperson?)

Yeah, it's great. He's got a 2015 EP with the same lineup that's also really good.

three tracks available for listening here:

https://theoncross.bandcamp.com/album/fyah

That's good to hear.
Thanks for the link sleeve, bandcamp's architecture sometimes confuses me. However, now I'm distracted by this great Moses Boyd single linked to in Beta's review: https://mosesboyd.bandcamp.com/album/rye-lane-shuffle-single. And I see he put out a whole album last year--this scene might actually be too productive lol

The Comet is Coming is...coming to St. Paul this summer and while it's not my first choice of his projects in these sometimes jazz starved parts I'm pretty excited to see him

That Moses Boyd single now sells for £££. It's seen as a bit of a landmark.

Bought the Maisha and Kamaal Williams albums yesterday. Both very very fine.

Rye Lane Shuffle is fantastic - reminds me of MRA by Brotherhood of Breath. Theon Cross is also on the new Seed Ensemble album along with a lot of other members of the scene.

new s/t Kokoroko (afro-beat 8-piece led by London trumpet player Sheila Maurice-Grey) ep is really good.

xps

yeah that tuba-tastic Theon Cross album is excellent as well.

I love this scene so much. It is so great to have jazz that is alive, culturally grounded and in dialog with the music around it.

Kokoroko album is tremendous.

I really need to get to some gigs next time I'm in London.

https://www.juno.co.uk/products/binker-golding-elliot-galvin-ex-nihilo/716654-01/

fantastic improv album with Binker Golding/Elliot Galvin that seems to have gone under the radar, it's hard to keep up with this lot.

The Theon Cross and Moses Boyd albums are both excellent. I think I prefer the Theon record aesthetically in general but Moses definitely has higher highs.

Also the N171 was my teenage night bus so I'm feeling mad affinity for that particularly Moses Boyd track. This scene in general could use more singers.

The local references are unsurprisingly appealing to me too - Rye Lane itself is closed to through traffic for the whole of 2019 so it is unusually shuffle-y at the moment, though the diversion on the number 63 is irritating.

Also "Marooned in SE6" made me laugh - you can always walk through Nunhead, dude, it's not so tricky.

Moses Boyd is from Catford so going through Nunhead might not help matters. He's probably just stuck living with his parents or something.

there can never be enough twin drum/bass/tuba combos for my liking.

or is the tuba the bass, my ears deceive me!

It seems the BBC radio documentary from last year on the London jazz scene didn’t get posted to this thread.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m0000t6b

going off-topic here - but on a similarish tip to the Theon Cross alb is the excellent Portuguese Tuba/Guitar/Drum trio TGB whose ace TGB III album has just dropped on Clean Feed.

I think he's running his tuba through a load of effects pedals to get some of those sounds, it's insane.

Listening to 'Drum Dance' on the Moses Boyd album now and just texturally it's incredible. Weirdly what it reminds me most of Henrik Schwarz which I'm sure is a complete coincidence and a matter of shared source material.

I'll have to be the contrarian here; Theon Cross's tuba annoys me on both his album, and on the Sons Of Kemet. Perhaps I just don't like tubas.

http://cdn5.coloringcrew.com/coloring-book/painted/201048/297b6e6f8d9a94e648c9f8dace1dffd6.png

I guess you’re not gonna fly to New Orleans and catch a brass band with a tuba in a second line parade either. Oh well.

I'll have to be the contrarian here; Theon Cross's tuba annoys me on both his album, and on the Sons Of Kemet. Perhaps I just don't like tubas.

― mike t-diva

xp - oh God, don't get me started on Hot 8!

utter savagery!

i like tubas

more jazz tubas please

Yeah, you anti-tuba people are insane.

tubas are great, though I can't deny that they, like harps, have accumulated some unfortunate cultural baggage

where are people hearing the Kokoroko album? doesn't seem to be out here in Canada yet

It comes out on Friday 3/8. I got a promo. One track is streaming on Bandcamp:

https://kokoroko.bandcamp.com/

yeah I've heard that track (plus Abusey Junction ofc), just seemed liked people were praising the whole ep--maybe more of you are critics than I realized

or nabbed it on SLSK 😈

Two tracks of the EP Re on Apple Music.

The other track I’ve really liked from this scene is Pineapple by Blue Lab Beats featuring Moses Boyd. Delightful melting pot of house, afrobeat, high life and jazz.

I will defend the honor of tubas against all challengers

I won’t say that jazz bands lead by bass instrument players are always better, but they often are.

I saw Oscar Jerome live in Hackney last week; he plays guitar in Kokoroko, but mainly releases stuff under his own name (w/Joe Armon-Jones, Moses Boyd etc). Reminds me a lot of "One World" era John Martyn - that jazzy, dubby, spacey vibe. Great stuff, and he looks about 16.

I could take or leave the tuba on Fyah, love the saxophone player

https://www.npr.org/2019/03/07/700510300/first-listen-the-comet-is-coming-trust-in-the-lifeforce-of-the-deep-mystery

I thought I should post this here as well for UK headz: Shabaka Hutchings "Vangelis/Spiritual Jazz" project, full album streaming on NPR.

N had CBeebies on the other day and it was a program called Band Jam all about music, and both the tuba players who’ve been in SoK were on! Which was unexpected but cool. N was not impressed that I have records by them and have seen them live.

Full astral flying album is now on iTunes. It definitely has its moments but there is some pretty ropey drumming in places.

I interviewed all 3 members of The Comet Is Coming for Tidal:

http://read.tidal.com/article/comet-is-coming-afro-futurism-2

Some of the Comet album is kinda ragged but damn when it flies. It's a fool's game to summon Ayler but there he is and The Universe Wakes Up damn near makes the top of my head come off.

I'm seeing them in NYC tomorrow night - looking forward to it.

I am envious. Great interview too, cheers.

Is that show sold out do you know?

The club's website says it is, but who knows? You might get in if you just walk up. They're also playing Philadelphia on Wednesday, if that's accessible to you.

Thanks. Monday nights not usually good for me and friend who was interested in going has something else but maybe I’ll just call an audible tomorrow and walk up if I feel like it.

Anyway I just went to website and it seemed to say SOLD OUT. Looking forward to your report later in the week;)

The moment when Super Zodiac peaks is incredible.

Love the new Comet album, even (especially?) when it is very corny.

Nearest gig to me is in japan but too early for me to be in Japan. I would like to see them live.

Gig last night was great. Dan Leavers (keyboardist) took a very long, Alice Coltrane-ish (in devotional mode) unaccompanied solo at one point; by contrast, when Hutchings was playing unaccompanied, he basically repeated one phrase with more and more energy until people's heads were on the brink of exploding. Bliss vs. mania, basically.

In DC Thursday.

^^going.

I was there. I liked em when Shabaka was loud and the drummer and keyboardist were playing fast rhythms. I liked them less when the keyboardist was doing fusion prog spacey sounds and gesturing to the audience to cheer louder

oh man

lol

i really dug it. those deep crunchy sythns sounded so good

As promised, I wrote up the show for my Stereogum column.

Shabaka Hutchings is very tall. I’m gonna guess at least 6’5″ and maybe 6’6″. I’m 6’2″, and he loomed over me when we met last year. On Monday night, I saw him perform with The Comet Is Coming at New York’s Mercury Lounge, and he towered over his two bandmates, keyboardist Dan “Danalogue” Leavers and drummer Max “Betamax” Hallett, too. (With TCIC, he calls himself King Shabaka.)

The Comet Is Coming have just released their second full-length, Trust In The Lifeforce Of The Deep Mystery, as part of Hutchings’ deal with Impulse! Records. (They put out Your Queen Is A Reptile, by his group Sons Of Kemet, last year, and there’s supposed to be a second album by Shabaka And The Ancestors, on which he collaborates with top-shelf South African jazz players, on the way.) TCIC isn’t Hutchings’ group, though, creatively speaking. They started out as a duo called Soccer96, and Leavers and Hallett still make music under that name. Hutchings saw them live and wanted to collaborate. The combination is astonishing, particularly on the new album. Their earlier material was a little less focused, more about vibe than compositions, but the new stuff is both viscerally exciting—Hallett is a ferocious drummer—and beautiful.

Leavers’ Roland synths and pedal boards are almost defiantly retro; there wasn’t a laptop to be seen anywhere onstage at the Mercury Lounge. He plays it all, live and in the moment. The primary melodies often have a synthwave feel, with some improvisatory flourishes that recall Alice Coltrane’s 1980s devotional music. Hallett, playing a small kit belonging to the club, still managed to create a big, powerful sound, cranking the beat up to at times astonishing tempos.

Hutchings is almost anti-virtuosic in his approach. When I interviewed him last year, he talked about playing what he calls “stupid sax.” He explained it as follows: “You go through college and there’s all these things in the air, in the zeitgeist that says, ‘You need to be better.’ And it’s come from working in the capitalist system. We need to accumulate more jazz chops. We need more information, we need more facility, we need more everything. But what about if we don’t need any more anything? What if we need to go back to a place where we just have our creativity, and a piece of metal? And I call that stupid sax. You take the saxophone and you just get ignorant. I practice — I’ll transcribe and I’ll practice out of étude books, but the real thing is when I’m onstage trying to actually approach the instrument from a point of unknowing, trying to unlearn all that stuff. I really don’t want to sound like Mark Turner or Joe Lovano, cause they just sound too good. They sound like they know what they’re doing. I’d rather be that guy in the corner with people going ‘Uhhh…I guess he can play.'”

He can definitely play. He’s not a big-voiced, resonant player like Coltrane or Rollins or JD Allen, and he doesn’t construct elaborate solos. He goes for a hoarse, crying sound rooted in R&B honking, with a little bit of reverb and distortion from a pedal, and he grabs onto phrases and digs his teeth in, turning them into something mantra-like, driving the audience wild with pure repetition and force. He even did this during an unaccompanied solo passage, grinding a sax riff into the stage until the audience was all but screaming.

There were gentle moments, too, of course. After about twenty minutes of manic fury, Leavers began a version of “Unity,” from the new album, with an extended synth solo that was part prog and part New Age, and the piece itself was quite beautiful, with Hallett playing a rhythm that seemed to owe something to West African music. But the fast, stomping performances of pieces like “Summon The Fire” and “Super Zodiac,” which blended seamlessly together into one long stretch of jackhammer drumming, pulsing synths and fierce sax, were what set the tone for the night. A woman at the lip of the stage was dancing furiously throughout the set, and people throughout the packed room were bouncing around, nodding their heads and jumping in place.

A friend likened the keyboard sound to Pink Floyd...well Pink Floyd do have a (bootleg?) album called In Celebration of The Comet

Yeah drummer Hallet is great and of course integral to the trio

I love that quote about 'Stupid Sax' the anthesis of those Berkley School of Jazz pricks that used to infects Umbria Jazz back when I use to go semi-regularly.

Driftglass by the Seed Ensemble is keeping me entertained today.

Using this thread as more of a general London Jazz thread: last night's Total Refreshment Centre show at the Barbican was pretty epic. Theon Cross, Seed Ensemble, Alabaster DePlume, Emma Jean Thackeray, etc. Boiler Room streamed the whole thing:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CsSEnExiyrU

Was sadly too tired to stay for the DJ sets in the lobby, which went on until 1am.

There were copies of a book about TRC being sold - stuff like that and the We Out Here festival makes me worried the hype might be getting a bit out of hand. Tho TRC *was* founded in 2012 so I guess there's enough material...

https://youtu.be/z_PUqETN2yw

been chilling to these lot today - Mark Kavuma's fine The Banger Factory album.

I also posted this in the main jazz thread - Sons of Kemet live at the Big Ears festival earlier this year:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_a4fgVKpMiw

Perhaps beyond the official remit of this thread but I am loving the Nerija album.

The Somerset House gig was astonishing, they had the Boris Johnson 'flag-waving picaninnies' quote up onstage for the whole thing, the whole thing just seemed to rise and rise in intensity including an astonishing middle section with a succession of MCs over the top. Including D Double E, which as well as being awesome was also kind of heartwarming, the sense of a circle being closed, making explicit what had been apparent since the start.

Sons of Kemet played Brooklyn on Tuesday night with Irreversible Entanglements (Moor Mother fronting an Ayler-esque quartet). I wanted to go but couldn't.

Perhaps beyond the official remit of this thread but I am loving the Nerija album.

https://boomkat.com/products/abstractions-of-reality-past-and-incredible-feathers

will be looking out for this one

Hell yes.

Also from gearbox records some new Abdullah Ibrahim that I was previously unaware of.

The Comet Is Coming put out a six-track EP this week, The Afterlife. Listening to it now on Spotify. It's basically in the spirit of the last album, with one track featuring vocals by poet Joshua Idehen.

I'd forgotten about Joshua Idehen, who I really liked on the LV album Routes from about 2013 or something.

it took me a while to get around to that Binker Golding album Abstractions of reality past.. it's an ace album, when ilx poster Jordan said most modern jazz albums sound like shit these days, this is another one that bucks that trend by sounding very nice!

https://matthewhalsall.bandcamp.com/album/oneness

new M Halsall sounds pretty chill

I know Shabaka's not in the band anymore but the new Melt Yourself Down single ("Crocodile") smokes. Album's out in March.

oh hell yeah this track sounds great!

looks like there's a new shabaka and the ancestors out today too - "The Coming of the Strange Ones"

The new Ancestors album is out next month. It's really good. I'm hoping to see them in NYC in March too.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eg-0rBD38Lc

new album sounds ace from reviews/previews. It drops in a fortnight.

Musically the album is a fast-forward spin going on futuristic reinvention of the South African township jazz pioneered by artists such as Hugh Masekela, Chris McGregor and Dudu Pukwana in the mid 20th century.

u loves to hear it!

Dudu Pukwana’s Bayoli from
in the townships has to be in my top 10 all time favourite tunes so I’m excited about that comparison.

sick album is that!

Hugh Masekela's I Am Not Afraid is another personal fave and McGregor/Brotherhood of Breath are unfuckwithable.

Oh man, just even name-checking the Blue Notes crew has me stoked.

So this is pretty great.

Does have some of the freeness of the Blue Notes, but very much its own thing.

Nice NYT write-up.

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/11/arts/music/shabaka-and-the-ancestors.html

been getting really into this scene the past few months. SoK's last record seems particularly otm right now.

The new Gary Bartz/Maisha collab LP has particularly grabbed me.

Shirley Tetteh, Maisha's guitarist is so so good.

She gradually takes over the second half of “The Stank” with a very cool solo, having ticked away in the background during the first half. Such a funky track.

She also plays on recent SEED ensemble and Yazz Ahmed albums.

I interviewed her last year for Bandcamp.

(I just ordered physical copies of the Nérija, Maisha, and Seed Ensemble albums this morning, too.)

She’s great on the Nerija album, isn’t she - there’s a standout solo on “Equanimous”, for instance. I’m gonna revisit the Yazz Ahmed later today.

Ok so this guy's music is amazing

Thanks for the tip on that Nerija album. I just got it on vinyl and it kills, EU especially.

Soul Jazz Records is putting out a 2CD/3LP compilation of new UK jazz called Kaleidoscope - New Spirits Known & Unknown on July 17.

Soul Jazz Records’ new album ‘Kaleidoscope – New Spirits Known and Unknown’ brings together many of the ground-breaking artists involved in the new jazz scene that has developed in the UK over the last few years. Featured artists include Matthew Halsall, Yazmin Lacey, Ill Considered, Tenderlonious, Theon Cross, Emma-Jean Thackray and many, many more in this ground-breaking release.

As well as sharing a pioneering spirit in these new artists’ approach to frontier-crossing musical boundaries, a further theme of this album is that many also share a determination to independent practices - and most of these artists’ recordings featured here are either self-published or released on independent labels. While the attention of this new wave of jazz artists has up until now has been London-based, this album shows how this movement is spread across the whole of Britain (and indeed beyond).

‘Kaleidoscope – New Spirits Known and Unknown’ shows that while there is commonality in these artists approach to music, there is a wide variety of styles – from deep spiritual jazz, electronic experimentalisation, punk-edged funk, uplifting modal righteousness, deep soulful vocals and much more.

Soul Jazz Records’ new release comes as a superb one-off pressing special deluxe triple album edition which comes with a bonus limited-edition one-off pressing 7" single, a standard triple album, and a deluxe double CD pack. This album also comes with extensive sleevenotes, artist interviews and exclusive photography.

Track listing:

Tracklisting
1. Matthew Halsall & The Gondwana Orchestra – When The World Was One
2. Yazmin Lacey – 90 Degrees
3. Hector Plimmer – Communication Control
4. Ill Considered – Long Way Home (Live At The Crypt)
5. The Expansions – Mosaic
6. Chip Wickham – Red Planet
7. Levitation Orchestra – Odyssey
8. Emma-Jean Thackray – Walrus
9. Tenderlonious and The 22archestra – The Shakedown
10. Pokus – Pokus One
11. Theon Cross – Candace Of Meroe
12. Joe Armon-Jones & Maxwell Owin – Tanner's Tango
13. Collocutor – Gozo
14. Makaya McCraven – Untitled
15. Nat Birchall – Ancient World
16. Ruby Rushton – Moonlight Woman
17. Ebi Soda – Dimmsdale
18. The Cromagnon Band – Thunder Perfect
19. SEED Ensemble – Mirrors
20. Ishmael Ensemble – Kito's Theme
21. Vels Trio – Yellow Ochre (Part 1)

that looks great - excited to hear it

Weird that Lunch Money Life isn't on there-- I really like their newest record

The newest side project/collaborative release from Danalogue is pretty sharp:

https://danalogue.bandcamp.com/album/i-was-not-sleeping

Sounds pretty great, thanks Ned.

yeah, digging this

New one is real nice:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pZUbNXhnSm4

He was part of the Pop Conference today ( but I missed it)

that new track hits the spot

that album is going to kill!

Yeah this is excellent. To see these guys at a place like SOB's would be so amazing.

I only scratched the surface of Sons of Kermet and the rest of this scene up till now, but I love both the recent singles a lot.

it's finally here! 🔥 🔥 🔥 🔥 🔥 🔥

this is an amazing ear enema following listening to st vincent. going to be playing it a lot this year.

lol first time I've seen enema deployed as a positive metaphor

hahaha this is more like an ear candle anyway, fire emojis otm

I've had to put on some quite dry and tediously enthralling neo-classical chamber jazz improv to calm myself down after all the excitement of blasting this one out earlier. Probably more like an ear enema!

lol we're 2/3 of the way to a terrible thread idea here

kinda shocked about how well d double e does on his feature here lol

God wtf why is this not on Bandcamp, why do these artists insist on doing this to people.

I think it's an Impulse thing, they aren't on bandcamp at all. Some of the older Hutchings stuff on different labels is though.

Btw, I agree! Disappointed to see this wasn't on there either, just clarifying that I think it's a label decision, not the artist in this case.

the digital album is available directly from impulse

Yeah, and I've bought it only to be sent a link to just the album art.

If labels are going to pull this shit, they need to do it right.

Ngl, I've already opened a complaint with Paypal over it. It would be like me paying full price for a record that comes out today, only to be handed the sleeve with no vinyl inside.

UMG can kiss my ass.

yeah that's fucked up

I saw that there is an article in the new Mojo on this scene but haven't seen the new edition yet to see what that article contains.

Shabaka is guesting on today's BBC 6Music Jamz Supernova show (1300-1400 UK time) - which is as good an excuse as any to bang on again about my current favourite show on the radio.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m000w4jz

Sons of Kemet Jazz saxophonist Shabaka Hutchings talks through the influences behind his new album Black To The Future, This album begins and ends with powerful lyrical and musical statements of rage and frustration, expressed outwardly in the wake of George Floyd’s death and the subsequent BLM protests and features guest vocalists including, Chicago bandleader/vocalist Angel Bat Dawid, American poet Moor Mother, legendary British Grime MC D Double E and British artist/rapper/spoken word musical artist Kojey Radical.

"Let the Circle Be Unbroken" is really something and then ""Envision Yourself Levitating" gently and mournfully blowing in afterwards. I'm impressed how distinct this album is from YQIAR while clearly the same collective

The new Sons of Kemet is on Bandcamp, ftr.

thank you!

gahh it was pulled from Bandcamp while it was still in my cart, wtf Impulse

The new video from the Sons of Kemet album is great:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dw_YbYpOPzo

There was a whole ass Soccer96 LP this year that I totally missed?

https://soccer96.bandcamp.com/album/dopamine

Update: it's really good, and much more cosmic than the post-punk EP with Alabaster dePlume (which I loved as well).

bro this honks

bro this honks

― maf you one two (maffew12), Thursday, December 23, 2021 1:02 PM (three weeks ago) bookmarkflaglink

otm

gahh it was pulled from Bandcamp while it was still in my cart, wtf Impulse

― sleeve
Yo Sleeve, hope you've got it now!
It's been back on bandcamp for a while, getting to be my Number 1:
https://sonsofkemetmusic.bandcamp.com/album/black-to-the-future

thx, I did get it eventually, I like it but it is def in like my #15-20 range

Interesting! What would you say are its limitations? Not gonna argue with you, just wondering about a different way of hearing it.

off the top of my head, I thought it was trying to do too many things at once. I like the vocals and the spoken word stuff but found that it made the record lose focus compared to Your Queen Is A Reptile which I did really love

I agree, it's a very good album but feels less focused than Queen. And some of the poetry is too ranty for repeated listening.

Preview for the new Binker (Golding) & Moses (Boyd) is unreasonably great:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rPZxrsS2Hp0

(And if big booming snares remind you of anyone, yep, it’s produced by Hugh Padgham)

Saw Sons of Kemet for 2nd time last night in DC. Enjoyed 'em again. The energy, propulsive rhythms , etc. Hutchings briefly played flute on one song. Might be kinda nice if they varied their set a bit more like that.

jellie

I missed their Big Ears set (becz I've seen them before and they were scheduled against Patti Smith), but my son loved it. And he and I both got to see Shabaka play Aaron Copland's clarinet concerto with the Knoxville symphony, which was awesome. He should play clarinet more too!

really want to catch them in SF in a few weeks but can only attend one of the two shows they are doing,which is unfortunately sold out right now and people are trying to get mad money for tickets secondhand, even though the second night has plenty of tickets available.

Sorry. DC show had a "low number of tickets available" message on club website on the day of show, but tickets were still available . Saw The Comet is Coming once here here as well. All shows in fairly small rooms.

Hutchings really looked like he was enjoying himself onstage last night. Occasional smiles after wiping off sweat under the hot stage lights in the basement level club.

Missed them last night in Philly because I had a wild weekend and I already have tickets to the Divide & Dissolve/Low show this evening...had a friend who went who said that the weather seemed to really keep people away

Shabaka's new solo ep Afrikan Culture is meditative swirling flute & harps & bells & other sounds. I really like it as an unexpected departure, though if you're highly allergic to new age, you might not. That said, he's still playing the hell out of his instrument, and it gets more disquieting than I expected at times.

Yeah, I included it in my upcoming Stereogum column but I said it's not jazz so much as something you'd listen to while getting acupuncture.

a couple of live Sons of Kemet sets appeared on Dime a couple fo weeks ago. May still be up there. I think they were 24/48 so sound good but filesize largish

xp
Definitely best to not expect jazz. But listening to it reminded me I've been meaning to check out Tony Scott's zen/yoga meditation albums, so I think you could say there's a strain of "jazz musician exploration" history he's tapping into (though now I'm listening to the Zen one and it would be pretty ludicrous to call this jazz)

It's really lovely. I guess it's his pandemic album, but it also makes me wonder if he saw how the Alabaster DePlume album took off and thought "but I'm a real sax player, I can do that one better", lol. I really like it though.

I've been listening to 'Afrikan Culture', and although a lot of it is gentle, there are weird, unsettling [Rob used the word 'disquieting'] moments on this album that you wouldn't get on a meditation/relaxation album.

Still waiting for my copy to get here, but was really intrigued by the Flock album out on Strut:

Flock is a brand new collaboration between five leading musicians from London's open-minded jazz and experimental scenes: Bex Burch (Vula Viel), Sarathy Korwar, Dan “Danalogue” Leavers (Soccer96, The Comet Is Coming), Al MacSween (Maisha) and Tamar Osborn (Collocutor).

Gathering together at The Fish Factory in London Summer 2020, the approach was to try something fresh. “I wrote texts as scores for the session and the emphasis was on breathing and listening to each other,” explains Bex Burch. “Improvisation is composition in itself,” continues Burch, “so although the music was freely improvised, we sometimes chose to stay on form and rhythm, repeating melodies and groove. As Dan commented on the day, we ‘murmurated’. The expansive 13-minute piece ‘How Many Are One’ on the album is the perfect example, a collective following and leading as the music developed.”

https://flock.bandcamp.com/album/flock-2

Looks v. appealing, thanks---speaking of Soccer96, I said this in 2022 round-up (put their alb on ballots):

Every day I go to school, putting on the headset and smoking Soccer96's Dopamine, riding the drone that takes me to canyons of cans and The Great Spot of Eternal Storm—oops, a little to the left now—another spectacular day at the office. Can't afford to get too jaded, and it's not our job: must send thoughtful reports periodically, cerebrations and celebrations in a minor key, moody with it but also the trace of a voice in the wraparound windscreen is more than answered by excellent passers by, and some ravenous work-outs, solos-as accompaniment, recalling , in effect though not pedantically, Keith Moon, Elvin Jones, and Michael Prain of Die! Die! Die!, Soccer96 being keyboards x drum kit subset of The Comet Is Coming, sometimes aligned with Sons of Kemet, Shabaka and the Ancestors, maybe others.

After 10 years we have decided that from the end of our scheduled 2022 shows we will be closing this chapter of the band’s life for the foreseeable future. We’re excited to play our remaining gigs for you and to make this summer a fitting send off pic.twitter.com/3OceZqj1jz

— Sons Of Kemet (@SonsOfKemet) June 1, 2022

Speaking of Sons of Kemet.... damn. No doubt these guys will continue with other existing and new projects, but damn, still a loss.

oh no, that sucks! wow I'm super glad I risked seeing them in April now

wtf

oh no. That's my fave Shabaka project

FUUUUCK I missed them in March because they played on a Monday, I'd had a crazy packed weekend, and I was seeing D/D and Low on Tuesday.

i missed them too as was away when they came to town. it looks like my only other chance to see them would have been primavera but they are playing the other week i'm not there. bah!

i'll catch them when they reunite in five years

that was a joke, but i'd be pretty surprised if these four guys never play together again

yeah tbh I wonder what prompted the announcement. Prior to this, I could've easily seen Comet, Ancestors, or Sons never putting out another album without having to make it formal

From the Basement session sounding great:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qB4-eH5mGf0

.@SonsOfKemet @NewportJazzFest pic.twitter.com/b0lAB1ZE2A

— jeff (@jazyjef) July 30, 2022

New The Comet Is Coming album, Hyper-Dimensional Expansion Beam, in September. I haven't heard all of it yet but what I have heard is very good. Here's the first single, "Code":

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eUiI1SJqgRo

Hey, I was just at the Newport Jazz Festival, they slayed! I don't know the material well enough to know if it was from an album or entirely improvised (which it often felt like).

Barely took any photos at #newportjazzfestival today, but here’s a moment from the incredible @SonsOfKemet set 🔥 pic.twitter.com/SKaAI2bjvn

— Nate Chinen (@natechinen) July 31, 2022

Join us for #KEXP50, our 50th anniversary celebration on Saturday, August 6! The event is FREE, open to the public, and featuring live sets from @chkchkchk @SonsOfKemet @thaogetstaydown @tomonakayama @LIV_musiq + MORE special guests! Info: https://t.co/mNCVJts5Ya pic.twitter.com/4baqnNtdez

— kexp (@kexp) July 22, 2022

Boy I am not responding to the new Comet is Coming album as I'd hoped. I think I have to admit that I like it when they're more "rock," and maybe liking rock in my jazz is corny, but so be it.

i'm liking it a lot, though i'm hearing less rock than EDM
why they are scheduled to play NYC at the same time as BRIC Jazzfest is beyond me

edm and 70s Miles Davis fusion

Revisited the Shabaka & the Ancestors albums this week. Those are fucking brilliant, and really slept-on IMO (probably because they can't tour as much as TCIC or Kemet could).

Agreed, Wisdom of Elders is probably my favorite SH-related album.

The new one has sadly confirmed that I don't really like TCIC that much.

The new one has awakened my interest in TCIC

As one door closes, another opens

Tour started last night. They're phenomenal live, so if they're in your neighborhood and you're feeling good about going to shows, definitely do it.

Fri, SEP 30 The Crocodile Seattle, WA
Sat, OCT 1 Revolution Hall Portland, OR
Mon, OCT 3 The Independent San Francisco, CA
Tue, OCT 4 The Independent San Francisco, CA
Wed, OCT 5 El Rey Theatre Los Angeles, CA
Thu, OCT 13 Thalia Hall Chicago, IL
Fri, OCT 14 The Axis Club Theatre Toronto, Canada
Sat, OCT 15 Le National Montreal, Canada
Tue, OCT 18 Crystal Ballroom Somerville, MA
Wed, OCT 19 Underground Arts Philadelphia, PA
Thu, OCT 20 Union Stage Washington, DC
Fri, OCT 21 Bowery Ballroom New York, NY
Sat, OCT 22 Bowery Ballroom New York, NY
Wed, NOV 2 Tama Poznań, Poland
Thu, NOV 3 Zaklęte Rewiry Wrocław, Poland
Fri, NOV 4 Hype Park Kraków, Poland
Sat, NOV 5 Praga Centrum Warszawa, Poland
Sun, NOV 6 Pitchfork Music Festival Berlin 2022
Tue, NOV 8 Alte Feuerwache - Halle Mannheim, Germany
Wed, NOV 9 E-Werk - Clubbühne Erlangen, Germany
Thu, NOV 10 MEETFACTORY Prague, Czech Republic
Fri, NOV 11 Transcentury Update 2022 Leipzig, Germany
Wed, NOV 16 La Gaîté Lyrique Paris, France
Thu, NOV 17 L'Aéronef Lille, France
Fri, NOV 18 Babylon Istanbul, Turkey
Sat, NOV 19 Pavillon Hannover, Germany
Thu, DEC 1 Ｓｈｉｂｕｙａ　ＷＷＷ 渋谷区, 日本
Fri, DEC 2 Ｓｈｉｂｕｙａ　ＷＷＷ 渋谷区, 日本
Sat, DEC 3 Live House Anima Osaka, Japan
Thu, DEC 8 Oxford Art Factory Sydney, Australia
Fri, DEC 9 Meredith Music Festival 2022 Meredith, Australia
Sat, DEC 10 Corner Hotel Richmond, Australia

Unsurprising if reactionary ol' ILM turns against TCIC just as they go imagocore tbh. That chord flourish near the end of The Hammer is so me, you must be disgusted

Yeah wasn't sure what to make of EDM jazz at first but it's really clicking. "Angel of Darkness" is especially a standout.

Yeah that song is SO sick, reminds me of Ex Eye, the Colin Stetson post-metal thing from a few years ago

Ha didn't know you were a fan - Ex Eye was great.

Really confused, are we all using EDM as a term for dance music in general now? Or does the new Comet Is Coming truly sound like the Chainsmokers?

There is flashy, poppy techno in this jazz, and I am here for it

Spaced out where SoK is earthy, The Comet Is Coming's "Channel the Spirits" starts off sounding kind of like an update on "Lawrence of Newark," but touches down in a thumping dance club towards the end.

― rob, Wednesday, September 26, 2018 5:06 PM (four years ago)

^from my opening post. This isn't a departure or anything, it's a core element of their sound and hardly represents some turn to "imagocore," whatever that could possibly mean smh.

They used to be noisier and more "out"; they've definitely moved further in the direction of synthwave and 80s retro on this album (and to a lesser degree on the LP and EP before it).

True, I don't think they've been static, and I'd have to listen to them all again to discern the trajectory. But the dance music element was a big part of CtS.

I'm more than happy to think of "imagocore" as 80s retro, excellent

oh no

do feel like there's a certain flashy balance of pop, prog, avant-garde noise and melodic grandstanding that constitutes a Sweet Spot, and that this album locks onto it to an extent

yeah fair enough, please just do not call me "reactionary" though ;)

EOY season preparations seem to get earlier every year

New album is terrific

"Angel of Darkness" is a massive track.

Unsurprising if reactionary ol' ILM turns against TCIC just as they go imagocore tbh. That chord flourish near the end of The Hammer is so me, you must be disgusted

― imago, Saturday, October 1, 2022 8:18 AM (one week ago) bookmarkflaglink

yes we reactionaries want a return to the classic oscar peterson-style coffee shop be-bop of earlier the comet is coming!

the first song reminded me of a song that would be in the bourne identity soundtrack with sax

lol sorry, that was quite boorish in retrospect. but I really think the new album is an exciting leap into...something

it's not grabbing me at first but he's a great artist and i'll definitely keep giving it a go

The ARE Prject EP that he did with Hieroglyphic Being and Sarathy Korwar is my favorite thing he’s been a part of— could listen to that record on a loop, and in fact, I have done so for hours at a time

table otm

I had to stop the new Comet, forget the idea that it's jazz, put it back on, and it works much better now. I have no idea what synthwave is but I could picture this in a video game all right.

This is what I mean! Come over to my side, we have fat breakdowns

Synthwave is just a term for Carpenter obsessed synth soundtrack stuff.

If it is that then it def can't also be EDM.

Gonna go listen to the damn album now and find it.

*out

I'm on "Frequency" and the groove is quite formidable, it's very much ethno porn sax skronk but I don't mind. The developments and sonic contrast with the synths and beats are... incongruous and funny ? It's the first album in a while that seems to have a sense of humor and make me want to laugh. It's a rather strange mix of subversive and meditative, but I can take it as it is.

Comet would have been great at Megadog

The genre of TCIC is "music that kicks ass" I think.

Had the pleasure of seeing them live this week and they were incredible.

incredible live band

New record is pretty great in my book. John Carpenter + skronky sax sounds good to me.

a concert this coming Tuesday that might be of interest to Londoners, with sets from three Native Rebel artists, Shabaka Hutchings’ record label:

https://earthackney.co.uk/events/native-rebel-recordings-the-brother-moves-on-chelsea-carmichael-con-kwake-15-11-2022/

mentioning it because I saw The Brother Moves On from Johannesburg in Amsterdam last night and they were awesome. I only knew their “You Think You Know Me” from last year because it was nominated in Tom Ewing’s EOY Twitter poll. great track, but not very representative (and they didn’t play it).

they performed as a five-piece band (guitar, bass, drums and two saxophonists/flutists) plus wonderful frontman/vocalist Siyabonga Mthembu.
there’s a lot of jazz in what they do, but (to my ears at least) it’s local SA genres at the heart of it all. their Wikipedia entry mentions “maskandi rock” (and “ninja gospel” fwiw).

listening to their recent album right now, and I’m enjoying it, but it can’t hold a candle to the live performance. go see them live if you can.

I guess I might add that they somehow manage to be intense and fun at the same time

He killed it. Never heard anyone who can turn on a dime like this guy.

Dude what

https://www.ticketweb.uk/event/shabaka-hutchings-presents-john-coltranes-hackney-church-tickets/13648158

This will be Shabaka’s final performance on the saxophone before he takes a hiatus from the instrument.

Have folks heard the Kofi Flexxx record? He's not attaching his name to it but it's pretty definitely him and has guest vocals from billy woods, ELUCID, and Siyabonga Mthembu (from Shabaka and the Ancestors), among others.

https://kofiflexxx.bandcamp.com/album/flowers-in-the-dark

^I missed the memo on Kofi Flexxx, will have to check that out

I was a bit wary going in as Afrikan Culture never hooked me, but Perceive Its Beauty, Acknowledge Its Grace is brilliant and a significant departure from the solo EP to my ears. Ultimately I don't love the sound of the flute as much as Shabaka does, but there's a thoughtful and thought through, compelling, at times witchy or eerie quality to this album that the more new age-y peer comparisons lack. And it goes in some unexpected directions: the first half of the track with Laraaji and Floating points reminded me of something you might hear on Ghost Box, and a couple other moments also had a UK folk revival vibe (e.g., Living).

I interviewed him for Stereogum about the new record, breaking up all his bands, etc., etc. It was a really interesting conversation.

yeah, that's a great piece unperson