Saturday, September 24, 2016

Introducing: Shabaka and the Ancestors

Shabaka & The Ancestors' Wisdom of Elders album is available now as a double LP, CD or digital download. 

Wisdom of Elders was recorded in Johannesburg in 2015 on one of many trips Shabaka Hutchings  took there to immerse himself in the country’s rich musical heritage. The album is a psalm in nine parts. An episodic unfurling of a sonic journey across the Atlantic.

“The grand scheme of this album is to present the musical language that I normally associate with my UK bands in the context of SA musicians and musical sensibilities,” explains Hutchings, who sometimes likes to call himself "King Shabaka" when playing with Sons of Kemet, The Comet Is Coming, Melt Yourself Down, etc.

Eight men in a studio in Johannesburg; one tenor sax, one alto sax, one trumpet. One on vocals, one on ivory, one bass, one on percussion and one the drums. 800 million voices. 700 years. Millions of bones cracking under the weight of 22 false free years. Innumerable tiny sparks. One uncontrollable blaze.

Shabaka & The Ancestors
Shabaka Hutchings - tenor saxophone
Mandla Mlangeni - trumpet (of Amandla Freedom Ensemble)
Mthunzi Mvubu - alto saxophone
Siyabonga Mthembu - vocals
Nduduzo Makhathini - Fender Rhodes, piano
Ariel Zomonsky - bass
Gontse Makhene - percussion
Tumi Mogorosi - drums





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