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

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