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Faces of Shabaka Hutchings

Shabaka Hutchings’s music has been following us for the past couple of years. We have seen a couple of variations - Sons of Kemet from 2016 or Shabaka and the Ancestors; his latest project The Comet is coming is a favourite…

We very much love and stand behind Ilhan Ersahin’s description “music of now” — it is what is happening right now and how music changes together with time.

Today we talk about an English man from Barbados, a tall dark figure, the carrier of change in not just the London, but also the global jazz scene. Born in England to parents from Barbados, named after a pharaoh, and raised in Barbados. Shabaka Hutchings first played the clarinet, followed by the saxophone. A musician with classical training; a deep personality, that listens more than he talks. Shabaka Hutchings is a person with strong social responsibility. But today we talk about his relationship with music and change.

Shabaka Hutchings has three bands - Sons of Kemet, Shabaka and the Ancestors, and The Comet is coming trio.

This is not the first time an artist decided he had different things to say via different bands. And we like this format. Because that is when the different faces of music appear. Shabaka Hutchings’s music is poetry and a riot, not with words, but with notes. But also with a whole lot of rhythm, influenced by his time spent in Barbados and the Caribbean Calypso music.

Shabaka Hutchings today with his three personal projects, also accompanied by Mark Guiliana and Shake Stew. An interesting fact - both with Sons of Kemet, and with Shake Stew, you can find two sets of drums!

There is no point in translating information - it is easily accessible online. Today we focus more on the music, not the words. We start backwards - first Shabaka Hutchings in side projects, followed by three examples from his groups.

Since it is all wrapped in a ball with us, we kick things off with an incredible improvisation, starting with Hutchings playing the clarinet, followed by a bass-clarinet, ending with the saxophone. Accompanied by the virtuosos Mark Guiliana on drums and Chris Morrissey on bass (David Bowie’s Blackstar and Beat Music). Followed by a live performance of the collaborative project by Hutchings and Shake Stew. Because everything is connected.

Mark Guiliana, Chris Morrissey and Shabaka Hutchings
Shake Stew feat. Shabaka Hutchings

Followed by three songs from the bands, where Hutchings mainly plays.

The Comet is coming
Sons of Kemet
Shabaka and the Ancestors

It is colourful today with music by Shabaka Hutchings.

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