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Shabaka Hutchings: Musical Force of Nature

Picking up a clarinet at the age of nine, Hutchings would play along to his favorite hip-hop artists, including the Notorious BIG, Nas, and Tupac. He returned to England to study classical music on the instrument and not only earned his degree but also a coveted spot in the Tomorrow's Warriors program. Other members have included Nubya Garcia, Moses Boyd, and future band mate Theon Cross.
The much-lauded Sons of Kemet came together in 2011. With Hutchings now on saxophone as well as clarinet, the band was originally comprised of a stable of drummers Tom Skinner, Sebastian Rochford, and Eddie Hick, Oren Marshall on tuba (later replaced by Theon Cross).

As is often the case in jazz, musicians splinter off into other groups, leading some and lending their talents as sidemen. Sometimes a concurrent project takes on a life of its own with a new member. Both Hutchings and Skinner joined Melt Yourself Down, a collective founded by Pete Wareham (also on tenor) in 2012. Other members included vocalist Kushal Gaya, bassist Ruth Goller, and percussionist Satin Singh. With Melt Yourself Down, Hutchings recorded two albums: 2013's eponymous debut and 2016's Last Evenings On Earth.
He started going to see the psychedelic/electronica duo Soccer96 with Betamax Killer and Danalogue the Conqueror. Showing up with saxophone in tow, he sat in with the two one night. Betamax Killer described the performance: "When he got up on stage to play with us, it created an explosive shockwave of energy that stunned us all." A few weeks later, the trio booked three days at a studio, and the result was The Comet is Coming, a psychedelic, electronic avant-garde jazz journey into the cosmos. The group released two singles in 2016, "Neon Baby" and "Do the Milky Way," which eventually ended up on the Prophecy EP along with three other tunes, including "Star Exploding in Slow Motion."

Yet another project is Shabaka and the Ancestors, which released Wisdom of Elders on Gilles Peterson's Brownswood Recordings in 2016, followed by We Are Sent Here by History in 2020.
He was commissioned by the London Sinfonietta, an English contemporary chamber orchestra, which premiered in 2021. Hutchings stated, "This collaboration is a continuation of my ongoing musical endeavour to re/decontextualise my core musical language and present it in situations which push the players and audience members alike to reimagine the musical vernacular of the Afro Caribbean diaspora."

What his next move will be is anyone's guess. This article will probably be out of date in a week. Shabaka is more than a musician. He's a force of nature, and the music world is richer for it.
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