Shabaka & The Ancestors
Siyabonga Mthembu vocals, Mthunzi Mvubu alto saxophone, Shabaka Hutchings tenor saxophone, Ariel Zomonsky bass, Gontse Makhene percussion, Tumi Mogorosi drums
London jazz is blossoming and one of its key figures is saxophonist Shabaka Hutchings. In Shabaka & The Ancestors the saxophonist collaborates with a great band from Johannesburg. South-African musicians have influenced London jazz since the 1960s and Shabaka & The Ancestors continue this tradition with jubilant, enchanting sounds.
Shabaka Hutchings celebrates success with a multitude of bands, including Sons of Kemet, The Comet is Coming and Melt Yourself Down. Instead of swing and bebop, his main influences include the grime, house, jungle and dub from the London underground, aside from the soca and calypso from his youth in Barbados. With Sons of Kemet he has already found a home at impulse!, the legendary label behind the spiritual jazz of John Coltrane and Pharoah Sanders. This label will also release We Are Sent Here By History, the new album of Shabaka & The Ancestors. Vocalist Siyabonga Mthembu plays an important part, with impressive lyrics and poetry, both sung and spoken.
‘Pulsing Afro-futurism, exploratory and vibrant’ (The Guardian, ****½ for the album Wisdom of Elders by Shabaka & The Ancestors).
Please note: this concert is rescheduled from 29 April 2020. Previously bought tickets stay valid.