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Sons of Kemet

Black To The Future

Impulse!
Release Date: May 14, 2021

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Hustle ft. Kojey Radical
Shake Stew - How We See Things (feat. Shabaka Hutchings)
Sons of Kemet - live in Sao Paulo
Pick Up Your Burning Cross ft. Moor Mother, Angel Bat Dawid
1 Field Negus feat. Joshua Idehen  
2 Pick Up Your Burning Cross feat. Moor Mother, Angel Bat Dawid  
3 Think Of Home  
4 Hustle feat. Kojey Radical  
5 For The Culture feat. D Double E  
6 To Never Forget The Source  
7 In Rememberence Of Those Fallen  
8 Let The Circle Be Unbroken  
9 Envision Yourself Levitating  
10 Throughout The Madness, Stay Strong  
11 Black feat. Joshua Idehen  
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Saxophonist, composer, philosopher and writer Shabaka Hutchings returns with a brand-new album from his Mercury Prize nominated outfit Sons of Kemet. Black To The Future, the band's fourth LP and second on Impulse! Records, is due out May 14.

This is the band's most dynamic project yet, featuring prominent vocalists including Angel Bat Dawid, poets Moor Mother and Joshua Idehen, and grime artist D Double E. The first single "Hustle" features Kojey Radical with backing vocals from singer Lianne La Havas and is out today with a dance-inspired metaphorical video directed by Ashleigh Jadee.

The last time Shabaka Hutchings released a record, it was March 13, 2020 – on the eve of the pandemic – with Shabaka & The Ancestors' We Are Sent Here By History. The "momentous" (NPR Music) album centered around themes of confronting the destruction of humanity as we know it. The prescient theme of this record was not lost on those who heard it.

  • Shabaka Hutchings performs set with Sons of Kemet at Love Supreme festival / DOWNBEAT
    Posted At: September 13, 2022
    DOWNBEAT's Ammar Kalia - DB contributes….Following two years of cancellations, Britain’s only outdoor jazz festival triumphantly returned July 1–3 for a sold-out weekend of genre-stretching performances in the sun-soaked fields of Sussex.While top-billed acts like Erykah Badu, Sister Sledge and TLC performed their R&B and hip-hop influenced hits to help pull in an age-diverse crowd of more than 75,000 p...

  • Sons Of Kemet welcome Esperanza Spalding for last U.S. performance before hiatus / LIVE FOR LIVE MUSIC
    Posted At: August 17, 2022
    LIVE FOR LIVE MUSIC - James Sissler writes…..After more than a decade at the forefront of the international jazz scene, London’s Sons of Kemet played their final U.S. performances before the band’s impending hiatus, which they announced back in June. The group’s last shows in the States were momentous if unceremonious, consisting of two sets at Pickathon in Happy Valley, OR on August 5th and 7th, one of whi...

  • Sons of Kemet are at their formidable, party-starting best at what could be their final UK show / THE WEE REVIEW
    Posted At: August 16, 2022
    A fascinating performance, one which moves from peak to peak seamlesslyTHE WEE REVIEW's LEWIS WADE writes…..Instead of the slow builds favoured by many instrumental groups, especially in the jazz world, Sons of Kemet often just launch into the maelstrom from the get-go, then somehow manage to maintain such intensity for the subsequent five minutes or so. It makes for a fascinating performance, one which mov...

  • 2022 Newport Jazz Festival - A Relaxed Musical Vibe, Communal and Diverse / the arts fuse
    Posted At: August 3, 2022
    To some degree, everything fit under the resilient umbrella that the late George Wein raised at the edge of Newport Harbor.theartsfuse - Paul Robicheau writes…Sunday’s finale of the 2022 Newport Jazz Festival included an all-star rollout of Trombone Shorty, vocalist Cecile McLorin Salvant, pianist Hiromi, trumpeters Jon Faddis and Randy Brecker, clarinetist Anat Cohen, saxophonist Lew Tabackin, and bassist/...

  • Shabaka Hutchings and Sons Of Kemet let their music talk at SF's Independent / Riff
    Posted At: April 12, 2022
    Riff's David Gill writes…..It’s a rare concert that makes you rethink everything you thought you knew about the tuba. And yet, English jazz quartet Sons of Kemet did precisely that with a sold-out performance at The Independent on Monday night. This isn’t your father’s marching band. The four-man operation blew minds and the doors off the joint with an explosive 90-minute performance—the first of a two-nigh...

  • Sons of Kemet opens their UK tour with explosive force / inews
    Posted At: February 21, 2022
    Sons of Kemet. Jazz at its most effervescent. it was clear how long they had been waiting to get back out in front of gig-goersinews - Joe Goggins writes…..The process of easing gig-goers back into live shows after two years of shutdown and disruption has been one with plenty of signifiers. Mask-wearing, Covid pass checks, sometimes physical distancing; there’s always been some reminder of the times we’ve b...

  • Theon Cross - Breeaking Tuba Rules / 90.7WFUV
    Posted At: February 16, 2022
    WFUV's Kara Manning…..As FUV honors music pioneers over the next month, we also reached out to a new generation of rising artists and innovators to discuss the "Five Essential Albums" that have guided them creatively and personally. Sons of Kemet's Theon Cross elevates and expands the role of the tuba in jazz, rock, grime, even reggae. Who are the innovators inspiring him? From Louis Armstrong to Bob Marley...

  • Sons of Kemet - Black to the Future makes 89.7KLCC - Midnight Passages: Favorite Music of 2021
    Posted At: January 11, 2022
    Sons of Kemet - Black to the Future makes Doug Anders' Favorite Jazz Recordings of 2021 for 89.7KLCC. Saxophonist, composer, philosopher and writer Shabaka Hutchings returned in 2021 with a brand-new album from his Mercury Prize nominated outfit Sons of Kemet. Black To The Future, the band's fourth LP and second on Impulse! Records, released on May 14.This is the band's most dynamic project yet, featur...

  • Sons of Kemet Black To The Future makes New York Public Radio 'New Sounds Year in Review 2021'
    Posted At: January 5, 2022
    New York Public Radio ‘New Sounds ’ host - John Schaefer writes…..A quick note about this list. Two notes actually. First, the recordings are not in any order – I put the first five together because they are thematically or sonically connected; and second, this is not my annual New Sounds Top 10, which is specific to the types of new and unusual music that we play on the nightly New Sounds show. (And which ...

  • Sons of Kemet - Black to the Future makes San Francisco Chronicle '6 albums that stood out in 2021'
    Posted At: December 22, 2021
    The San Francisco Chronicle's Adrian Spinelli writes….Sons of Kemet had one of the year’s best records with “Black to the Future.”An Afrofuturist jazz statement of the highest order, “Black to the Future” is a masterful instrumental display that teems with Black power. At the forefront of the modern U.K. jazz movement, the four-piece Sons of Kemet is led by composer and multi-instrumentalist Shabaka Hutchin...

  • Sons of Kemet - Black to the Future makes glideMAGAZINE '2021s 20 Best Jazz Albums'
    Posted At: December 15, 2021

    glideMAGAZINE - Jim Hynes writes.....2021 was a very creative year as artists, frustrated by the lack of touring due to the pandemic, began to use their downtime productively, learning how to layer in parts remotely, taking advantage of home studios, and, in the end, developing many ambitious projects. The beginning of the year was especially marked by ambient, contemplative albums designed to bring calm...

  • Sons of Kemet - Black To The Future makes JazzTimes: Top 40 Jazz Albums of 2021
    Posted At: December 14, 2021
    Saxophonist, composer, philosopher and writer Shabaka Hutchings returns with a brand-new album from his Mercury Prize nominated outfit Sons of Kemet. Black To The Future, the band's fourth LP and second on Impulse! Records, is due out May 14, and is the band's most dynamic project yet, featuring prominent vocalists including Angel Bat Dawid, poets Moor Mother and Joshua Idehen, and grime artist D Double E. ...

  • Sons of Kemet - Black to the Future makes Treble: best jazz albums of 2021
    Posted At: December 13, 2021
    Treble's Konstantin Rega writes….In recent years, jazz has consistently been a source of the most thrilling and innovative new sounds, and 2021 was no exception. This year, heralded by a landmark release from a contemporary electronic musician with a saxophone legend, we saw a trend of more atmospheric jazz with electronic elements, but that alone doesn’t tell the story of what was happening in jazz this ye...

  • Sons Of Kemet - Black To The Future makes STEREOGUM: 10 Best Jazz Albums Of 2021
    Posted At: December 8, 2021

    In 2021 Saxophonist, composer, philosopher and writer Shabaka Hutchings returned with a brand-new album from his Mercury Prize nominated outfit Sons of Kemet. Black To The Future, the band's fourth LP and second on Impulse! Records This is the band's most dynamic project yet, featuring prominent vocalists including Angel Bat Dawid, poets Moor Mother and Joshua Idehen, and grime artist D Doubl...

  • Sons of Kemet - Black To The Future makes 'jazzwise - 20 BEST JAZZ ALBUMS OF 2021
    Posted At: November 25, 2021

    Saxophonist, composer, philosopher and writer Shabaka Hutchings returns with a brand-new album from his Mercury Prize nominated outfit Sons of Kemet. Black To The Future, the band's fourth LP and second on Impulse! Records. This is the band's most dynamic project yet, featuring prominent vocalists including Angel Bat Dawid, poets Moor Mother and Joshua Idehen, and grime artist D Double E. The fir...

  • The message is powerful and necessary on 'Sons of Kemet - Black to the Future' / jazz trail
    Posted At: June 23, 2021

    jazz trail writes......Sons of Kemet, one of the many combos led by the British-born Barbados-raised saxophonist/composer Shabaka Hutchings (The Comet is Coming, Shabaka & The Ancestors) returns with Black to the Future, a dance-oriented fourth album that is more rooted in folklore than ever. This bubbling meld of cluttering, shuffling African beats and groove workout is reinforced with a few guest a...

  • Sons of Kemet's Shabaka Hutchings chats with NPR: Bullseye with Jesse Thorn
    Posted At: May 20, 2021

    Bullseye's Jesse Thorn writes....Saxophonist Shabaka Hutchings is a saxophone player and composer. He fronts the bands Sons of Kemet and Shabaka and the Ancestors. Sons of Kemet's latest record is Black to the Future. Shabaka was born in the United Kingdom, raised mostly in Barbados. The group Sons of Kemet is often informed by his upbringing in Barbados. You might hear a dub song pe...

  • Sons of Kemet deliver their most accessible and tuneful record to date / marlbank
    Posted At: May 20, 2021

    With Sons of Kemet I far prefer their earlier work when Sebastian Rochford and Oren Marshall were in the band. While still interesting (actually the formula has many of the original ingredients still) on this latest album Shabaka Hutchings' best work at the moment is guesting on other projects say with Anthony Joseph recently, see here for more, which I think is more inspiring. Having said that Sons ...

  • The political charge is front-and-centre on Sons of Kemet - Black to the Future / CRACK
    Posted At: May 14, 2021

    CRACK's Ammar Kalia writes......Saxophonist Shabaka Hutchings has spent the best part of the last decade using his improvised music as a powerful conduit for sociopolitical messaging. On 2020's release with South African collective the Ancestors, We Are Sent Here By History, Hutchings channelled the spiritual jazz intuition of the likes of Pharoah Sanders and Archie Shepp to posit a musical riposte t...

  • Sons of Kemet's 'Let The Circle Be Unbroken' from 'Black to the Future' makes NPR: All Songs Considered - New Music Friday
    Posted At: May 14, 2021

    The NPR: All Songs Considered - New Music Friday: The Top 7 Albums Out On May 14 program features saxophonist Shabaka Hutchings staggering new project with Sons of Kemet, Nate Chinen of WBGO and Jazz Night in America joins contributors Christina Lee and Gavin Godfrey, along with NPR's Lars Gotrich, Cyrena Touros and host Robin Hilton as they share their picks for the best releases out on May 14. ...

  • Sons of Kemet - Black To The Future.' Rage, resentment, and hope / NME
    Posted At: May 13, 2021

    NME's Dhruva Balram writes....The experimental jazz quartet, led by Shabaka Hutchings, recruit Kojey Radical, Lianne La Havas and more for an incendiary evocation of Black Lives Matter. Shabaka Hutchings is one step ahead – always. The saxophonist last released a record, his other band Shabaka and The Ancestors' ‘We Are Sent Here By History', in mid-March last year. This was the eve o...

  • Sons of Kemet - Black to the Future makes 'JAZZIZ - 10 Albums You Need to Know: May 2021'
    Posted At: May 5, 2021

    JAZZIZ - MATT MICUCCI writes......Star-studded trio albums; tributes to Billie Holiday, Wayne Shorter and Keith Jarrett; a sonic poem for the invocation of power, remembrance and healing. All this and more in our list of ten albums out this month (May 2021) that you need to know about. Saxophonist/composer Shabaka Hutchings and his acclaimed British jazz group Sons of Kemet present a new set of pulsi...

  • Sons of Kemet - Black to the Future is truly exciting, so genuinely innovative / JazzTimes
    Posted At: April 28, 2021
    JazzTimes JEFF TAMARKIN writes…You likely listen to a lot of good new music over the course of a year, but how much of it would you characterize as truly exciting, so genuinely innovative that you can honestly say you’ve heard nothing like it? England’s Sons of Kemet, now celebrating a decade together, fit that bill, and Black to the Future is their most noteworthy work to date. At their core a quartet led ...

  • Sons Of Kemet - To Never Forget The Source gets JazzFM: Breakfast Track of the Week
    Posted At: April 26, 2021

    Saxophonist, composer, philosopher and writer Shabaka Hutchings returns with a brand-new album from his Mercury Prize nominated outfit Sons of Kemet. Black To The Future, the band's fourth LP and second on Impulse! Records, is due out May 14. This is the band's most dynamic project yet, featuring prominent vocalists including Angel Bat Dawid, poets Moor Mother and Joshua Idehen, and grime artist ...

  • Shabaka Hutchings is cover feature on DOWNBEAT - May issue
    Posted At: April 21, 2021

    Over the last half decade, Shabaka Hutchings has established himself as a central figure in the London jazz scene, which is enjoying its greatest creative renaissance since the breakthroughs of Joe Harriott and Evan Parker in the 1960s. Hutchings has a restlessly creative and refreshingly open-minded spirit, playing in a variety of groups-most notably, Sons of Kemet, The Comet Is Coming, and Shabaka &...

  • Sons of Kemet set to release; 'Black to the Future' / JAZZIZ
    Posted At: April 7, 2021

    JAZZIZ - MATT MICUCCI writes....The Week in Jazz is your roundup of new and noteworthy stories from the jazz world. It's a one-stop destination for the music news you need to know. Let's take it from the top. Sons of Kemet, Black to the Future (Impulse!): Sons of Kemet, the British jazz group led by saxophonist/composer Shabaka Hutchings, have announced the release of their new album, Black to the Fu...

  • For bands that rely on the energy of live performance, social distancing has been devastating / npr
    Posted At: March 20, 2020

    Last year, Sons of Kemet were one of the standout acts of the Big Ears Festival in Knoxville, Tenn. This year, the festival is one of countless gatherings that has been cancelled due to concerns about the spread of the coronavirus. For the music industry - and especially for bands like Sons of Kemet, which rely on the energy of live performance - the disruptions caused by social distancing have been deva...

  • More sax please, we're Glastonburians / NME
    Posted At: July 1, 2019

    "This is a one-off clash between two of the big current British jazz bands," Paul from Bristol explains to NME. He's standing at the back of the Wormhole, a dungeon-like room situated near the Park stage which holds maybe 100 people. Like the rest, Paul is here to see a sound-clash between Sons of Kemet and Ezra Collective, two of the UK's most exciting jazz acts, who each played their own sets this week...

  • Sons Of Kemet 'Your Queen Is A Reptile' makes COMPLEX '10 essential jazz albums by london musicians'
    Posted At: March 21, 2019

    Chances are, at some point in the last year, you've heard, seen or read something about the new wave of UK jazz. Across the capital and beyond, a new generation of trumpet players, saxophonists and singers have revolutionised what we think of as jazz and how we think about the people who listen to it. No longer the preserve of older, middle-class audiences, London jazz embraces its youth, drawing on ...

  • John Coltrane, Sons of Kemet & Eric Bibb get 2019 Jazz FM Awards nominations / Radio Today
    Posted At: February 15, 2019

    The nominations for the Jazz FM Awards 2019 have been announced ahead of an evening event at Shoreditch Town Hall on International Jazz Day. The shortlist includes Sons of Kemet, John Coltrane, Wayne Shorter, Nubya Garcia, Poppy Ajudha, Leon Bridges, Makaya McCraven, Louis Cole, Eric Bibb, and Steam Down Collective amongst the acts. The Awards recognise the best emerging new artists, contemporary icons a...

  • John Coltrane & Sons of Kemet make TREBLE - Best of 2018
    Posted At: December 17, 2018

    TREBLE already shared their consensus lists of the Best Albums of 2018 and the Best Songs of 2018. Now here's each writer's individual top 10, along with some commentary where provided. On March 6, 1963, John Coltrane and his Classic Quartet - McCoy Tyner, Jimmy Garrison, and Elvin Jones - recorded an entire studio album at the legendary Van Gelder Studios. This music, which features unheard original...

  • Shabaka Hutchings certainly has cause to feel confident / Evening Standard
    Posted At: September 1, 2018

    Arriving at a small café in Kentish Town, Sons of Kemet's leader, saxophonist and clarinet player Shabaka Hutchings, greets me with a huge smile. "Do you want to listen?" he asks, immediately passing me a new pair of expensive-looking headphones he's just bought. Every textured note of a jazz composition filters into my ears with razor-sharp precision. I comment on the complexity of the sound, it ...

  • Shabaka Hutchings is Le Guess Who? guest curator / The Quietus
    Posted At: August 25, 2018

    We meet up with Jazz superforce Shabaka Hutchings in Utrecht and at Worldwide FM and a Steam Down in London, to discuss signing with the acclaimed Impulse! label, album themes and his curated program at Le Guess Who?. "It feels like signing with Impulse has given validity to the way I've perceived my music act" he says. "The lesson Sibusile Xaba has taught me is that music is supposed to be...

  • Sons Of Kemet nominated for Hyundai Mercury Prize / Jazz FM
    Posted At: July 27, 2018

    The first major label release from electrifying contemporary jazz ensemble Sons Of Kemet has been shortlisted as one of 12 nominees for this year's Hyundai Mercury Prize. Since its release on Universal's impulse! Records in March this year, Your Queen Is A Reptile has received critical acclaim for both its musical and political stand points, with The Wire naming it "jazz that's best heard at maximum volu...

  • Shabaka Hutchings interview with Rhythm Passport
    Posted At: July 25, 2018

    Sons of Kemet are no longer a fresh faced new group on the London music scene. After five years and two successful albums, their name has spread far-and-wide becoming a sought after act. Their music is more eclectic and harder to define than ever, but that doesn't prevent it is enthralling. In fact, their fanbase grows after every performance. We had the chance to enjoy the band's latest gig in Londo...

  • Sons of Kemet and Melissa Laveaux, set for Millennium Park / Chicago Reader
    Posted At: June 24, 2018

    Sons of Kemet play the Pritzker Pavilion, Millennium Park, This Thursday June 28 Jazz-related music rarely gets any sort of mainstream hype these days, and it's gratifying when one of the figures attracting wide attention outside of the jazz press actually deserves it. British reedist Shabaka Hutchings, a dynamo rooted in jazz, is an agile and curious musician who spreads his soulfully biting improvi...
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