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

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.