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

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.

^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

Listening to this new Shabaka record. Holy smokes. My favorite thing since Sons of Kemet disbanded for sure. Maybe the best thing I've heard from him? It's a nice day out, that helps, but it's really hitting me in the best way.

Yeah I love this one - jury’s still out on his rapping but the music is beautiful, feels very Jon Hassell in places

Nice, I have to check this one out... hopefully it'll get some distribution in the States, that's some expensive shipping from his Bandcamp page.

I haven't been able to give it a close listen yet, but it seemed really interesting and, if nothing else, another sonic departure for him, which is exciting. It sounded a bit like Sarathy Korwar to me (would you agree Tim?), but made by a woodwind player not a drummer

Yeah, that's what I like about Shabaka's discography so far, he's really interested in continuing to search and not rest at all. While I may not dig all of his detours, I appreciate the searching.

Some of the new album is really good, but some left me cold. Working totally alone isn't the best idea for him; he should start another band.

It did cross my mind while listening the other day that for someone who was so collaborative in bands and as a connecting hub for the London scene, it's surprising how self-sufficient he is now.

Interesting to see him citing D'Angelo on the bandcamp page

He played bansuri (an Indian flute) and electronics with Evan Parker and Thurston Moore at Cafe Oto the other night. It's on youtube.

i saw a Comet Is Coming show a couple of years ago. it was a lot heavier than i expected! i’m sad to say the two other guys came off like LMFAO style douchebags but musically it was quite an experience

I also saw TCIC a few years ago, and it remains in my memory one of the best live shows I've ever been to. I'm still bummed they broke up. I do like how Shabaka regularly pops up in collaborations with others (I just listened to him on a track on the new Elucid LP), and it would be cool to hear him in a proper band again, but I'm always and forever of the opinion that artists owe us nothing but their best effort at what they want to do, regardless of what we want to hear.

Yeah, TCIC were fantastic live. I saw them at Mercury Lounge in NYC and people were jumping up and down so hard it was like the floor was rippling.

released tomorrow:

Danalogue - Teleportations
https://danalogue.bandcamp.com/album/teleportations

Following an illustrious tenure as founding member of acclaimed, boundary-defying trio The Comet Is Coming, alongside output as half of electronic psych jazzers Soccer96, the producer and synthesist Dan Leavers, aka Danalogue, brings his debut solo LP, Teleportations.

The album’s universe draws heavily from the legacy of 1970s German kosmische and other outsider electronic pioneers who used synthesis as a tool for imagination and resistance. Danalogue cites figures such as Joe Meek, Wendy Carlos, Isao Tomita, Laurie Spiegel, Mort Garson and Terry Riley, and groups Harmonia and Kluster, as influences - all artists who operated outside rigid genre boundaries. Their influence is felt not as pastiche, but as spirit: exploratory, improvisational, emotional and defiantly human.

This ethos extends to the album’s production. Teleportations was created using a largely vintage analogue setup, centred around the Roland Juno-60 and SH-09, Jupiter 4, Oberheim and old samplers (not to mention Dan’s first foray on wax into drumming). For Danalogue, working with older instruments is both an aesthetic and philosophical choice; embracing limitation, tactility and imperfection as a means of focus and identity, while forming a “time bridge” to earlier eras of electronic experimentation. Rather than recreating the past, the album imagines travelling back with modern sensibilities and telling the future through old machines.

Cluster influence is good but Kluster influence even better.

Still really into the Shabaka record, my favorite since Your Queen is a Reptile. Some of my favs are even flute tracks!