The British-born Barbados-raised saxophonist and clarinetist Shabaka Hutchings is the centrifugal force in three critically acclaimed bands: Sons of Kemet, The Comet Is Coming, and the South African-centered Shabaka and the Ancestors.
He signed to Impulse! in 2018 after a six-year stretch rising to prominence with international sold-out shows that dissolved old genre boundaries and attracted eminent attention. Along the way, he picked up accolades including two Mercury Prize nominations, a MOBO, and a 2020 inclusion as one of Downbeat’s “Musicians Shaping The Future Of Jazz.”
The acclaimed saxophonist, philosopher, and bandleader, professionally known as Shabaka across all solo musical efforts, announces his first major-label solo body of work, Afrikan Culture (impulse!), out on May 20th. Entirely written by Shabaka, the eight-track digital-only EP showcases him on various wind instruments and focuses on the aural meditative space. The first track off the introspective set is “Black meditation”.
“Afrikan Culture was made around the idea of meditation and what it means for me to still my own mind and accept the music which comes to the surface,” says Shabaka. “It features various types of Shakuhachi flutes and a new technique of creating that I’ve been experimenting with in layering many flutes together to create a forest of sound where melodies and rhythms float in space and emerge in glimpses.”
Produced by Shabaka and frequent collaborator Dilip Harris, Afrikan Culture takes you on a sonically healing journey. Immersed in a sea of sound, diverse instruments that include the Shakuhachi (a Japanese end-blown flute), a Kora (a stringed instrument used extensively in West Africa), a Mbira (a “thumb piano” from Africa), and a music box envelopes the listener in a soothing sound that lingers on well past the last played note.
The EP is out on May 20th via IMPULSE!
Photo: Gareth Jarvis provided by Crossover media
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