Shabaka Hutchings, former leader of the raucous, eclectic British jazz groups Sons Of Kemet, The Comet Is Coming, and Shabaka And The Ancestors, put down his sax and pivoted toward serene flute music on his 2024 solo album Perceive Its Beauty, Acknowledge Its Grace. On new album Of The Earth, set for release in March through his own new imprint Shabaka Records, he's distilling the full breadth of his output into a wide-reaching collection of sounds.
The album announcement today comes with two new songs that show off its broad scope. Opener "A Future Untold" offers three-plus minutes of peaceful spiritual jazz, wind chimes included. Meanwhile "Marwa The Mountain" is built on brisk human rhythms and blaring horns that, all together, remind me of a more stripped-down Los Thuthanaka.
Shabaka shared this statement of purpose:
D’angelo’s Brown Sugar was the first CD I bought and it sparked a lasting curiosity about the emotional possibilities allowed by the self produced and performed album. This record is my celebration of freedom in creative self expression. Before the pandemic I could only play the clarinet and saxophone and knew nothing about music production (or how to play the flute), so this has been a journey of learning and a reflection on the music that’s been created as a result.
Listen to "A Future Untold" and "Marwa The Mountain" below.
TRACKLIST:
01 "A Future Untold"
02 "Those Of The Sky"
03 "Go Astray"
04 "Step Lightly"
05 "Call The Power"
06 "Dance In Praise"
07 "Ol’ Time African Gods"
08 "Marwa The Mountain"
09 "Light The Way"
10 "Stand Firm"
11 "Space Time"
12 "Eyes Lowered"
TOUR DATES:
3/25 - Philadelphia, PA @ Solar Myth
3/26 - Queens, NY @ Knockdown Center
3/28 - Knoxville, TN @ Big Ears (Headline show + Collaboration w Thurston Moore)
Of The Earth is out 3/6 via Shabaka Records. Pre-order it here.
