Shabaka and the Ancestors

About Shabaka and the Ancestors

Shabaka & the Ancestors is a modern avant-jazz octet led by British/Caribbean tenor saxophonist and composer Shabaka Hutchings. The rest of its membership is comprised entirely of South African members. Hutchings made several trips to South Africa between 2012 and 2014, immersing himself in the wide variety of the country's rich musical heritage. In early 2015, he assembled this group to "present the musical language that I normally associate with my U.K. bands in the context of Shabaka & the Ancestors' music and musical sensibilities." He composed a psalm in nine parts and recorded it. The finished album, Wisdom of Elders, was issued on Gilles Peterson's Brownswood label in 2016. ~ Thom Jurek