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Shabaka Hutchings#Native Rebel

{{Short description|British jazz musician, composer and bandleader (born 1984)}}

{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2024}}

{{Unreliable sources|date=October 2020}}

{{Infobox musical artist

| name = Shabaka Hutchings

| image = Shabaka Hutchings Sons of Kemet Oslo Jazzfestival 2018 (223102).jpg

| alt = Shabaka Hutchings performing in 2018

| caption = Hutchings performing in 2018

| background = non_vocal_instrumentalist

| birth_name = Shabaka Akua Lumumba Kamau Iyapo Hutchings

| birth_date = {{birth year and age|1984}}

| birth_place = London, England

| genre = {{hlist|Jazz|jazz fusion|avant-garde jazz|afrobeat|spiritual jazz|world music}}

| occupation = Musician

| instrument = {{hlist|Saxophone|clarinet|bass clarinet|shakuhachi|quena|pífano flute}}

| years_active = 2013–present

| label = {{hlist|Jazz re:freshed|Impulse!}}

| current_member_of =

| past_member_of = {{hlist|The Comet Is Coming|Melt Yourself Down|Shabaka and the Ancestors|Sons of Kemet}}

| website = {{URL|shabakahutchings.com}}

}}

Shabaka Hutchings (born 1984), also known simply as Shabaka, is a British jazz musician, composer and bandleader. He leads the band Shabaka and the Ancestors, and formerly led Sons of Kemet before its dissolution in 2022.{{cite web |last1=Bllom |first1=Madison |title=Sons of Kemet Breaking Up After Final Shows |url=https://pitchfork.com/news/sons-of-kemet-breaking-up-after-final-shows/ |website=Pitchfork.com |date=June 2022 |access-date=21 November 2023}} He was also a member of The Comet Is Coming, performing under the stage name King Shabaka. Hutchings has played saxophone and other wind instruments with the Sun Ra Arkestra, Andre 3000, Floating Points, Mulatu Astatke, Polar Bear, Melt Yourself Down, Heliocentrics, London Brew and Zed-U.

Background and early years

Hutchings was born in 1984 in London, England,{{cite web|url=https://jazztimes.com/features/lists/shabaka-hutchings-before-after/|title=Shabaka Hutchings: Before & After|website=JazzTimes|first=Ashley|last=Kahn|date=13 May 2020|access-date=5 September 2023}} but moved to Birmingham at the age of two.{{Cite web |url=http://www.shabakahutchings.com/biography/ |title=Biography | SHABAKA HUTCHINGS |access-date=7 October 2019 |archive-date=4 October 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191004200720/http://www.shabakahutchings.com/biography/ |url-status=dead }} From the age of six, he was raised in his parents' native Barbados. There, as a nine-year-old, he picked up the clarinet and practised along to the hip hop verses of Nas, Notorious BIG and Tupac, as well as the rhythms of Crop Over. Hutchings' father, Anum Iyapo, is a graphic designer who worked on albums by artists including King Tubby and Jah Shaka, and recorded a reggae poetry album called Song of the Motherland in 1985.

Returning to England, at the age of 19 he went to the Guildhall School of Music and Drama, where he received a classical-music degree on the clarinet.{{cite web|url=https://www.ucl.ac.uk/racism-racialisation/transcript-conversation-shabaka-hutchings|title=Transcript: In conversation with Shabaka Hutchings|first=Ashish|last=Ghadiali|website=Sarah Parker Remond Centre|publisher=University College London|date=17 June 2021|access-date=5 September 2023}} In London, he joined the Tomorrow's Warriors programme,{{Cite magazine|url=https://www.rollingstone.com/music/features/new-london-jazz-shabaka-hutchings-nubya-garcia-moses-boyd-w516682|title=Jazz's New British Invasion|magazine=Rolling Stone|first=Pyotr|last=Orlov|date=2 March 2018|access-date=21 June 2018|language=en}}{{cite news|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/music/concerts/great-day-london-review-dizzying-array-talent-proves-uk-jazz/|title=A Great Day in London, review: a dizzying array of talent proves the UK jazz scene is alive and well|newspaper=Daily Telegraph|first=Tina|last=Edwards|date=5 December 2021}} a blues workshop led by British bassist Gary Crosby, Janine Irons and expat New Orleans trumpeter Abram Wilson, where Hutchings met many of his future collaborators in the burgeoning South East London jazz scene.

Hutchings was a BBC New Generation Artist from 2010 to 2012.{{cite web|url=https://londonjazznews.com/2010/09/08/shabaka-hutchings-bbc-radio-3-new-generation-artist/|title=Shabaka Hutchings- BBC Radio 3 New Generation Artist|website=London Jazz News|date=8 September 2010|access-date=5 September 2023}}{{cite web|url=https://nataal.com/shabaka|title=Shabaka Hutchings {{!}} London's jazz visionary on recording his album Wisdom on Elders in Johannesburg with the Ancestors|website=Nataal.com|access-date=5 September 2023}} He has also spent time in South Africa.{{cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/travel/2016/sep/23/johannesburg-jazz-shabaka-hutchings-south-africa-holidays|title='Small pockets of cool all around': jazz star Shabaka Hutchings on Johannesburg|first=Will|last=Coldwell|newspaper=The Guardian|date=23 September 2016}}

Career

Hutchings and many of his contemporaries shrug off the "jazz" label, eschewing the restriction especially as the many groups reflect influences ranging from acid house and drum & bass, to hiphop and soca, with less of a blues influence than jazz, which reviewers have noted marks a distinction between the London scene as represented by Hutchings and American jazz music.{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2018/03/28/arts/music/sons-of-kemet-shabaka-hutchings-your-queen-is-a-reptile-review.html|title=With Sons of Kemet, Shabaka Hutchings Brings London Jazz Into the Spotlight|first= Giovanni|last=Russonello|work=The New York Times|date=28 March 2018|access-date=21 June 2018|language=en}}

File:The Comet is Coming 2019 Glastonbury Festival 06.jpg, Glastonbury Festival, 2019]]

Shabaka and the Ancestors debuted in 2016 with the album Wisdom of Elders on Gilles Peterson's Brownswood Recordings label. The Comet Is Coming, a trio with keyboardist Dan Leavers and drummer Max Hallett, received a Mercury Prize nomination for their debut album Channel the Spirits, released on The Leaf Label in April 2016.{{Cite web|url=https://daily.bandcamp.com/2016/09/14/the-comet-is-coming-interview/|title=Mercury Surprise: An Unlikely Award Nomination for Jazz Act The Comet Is Coming|first=Robert |last=Whitfield|website=Bandcamp Daily|language=en|date=14 September 2016|access-date=9 July 2018}} Sons of Kemet, a quartet of saxophone, tuba and two drummers, launched with the album Burn in 2013, followed up with Lest We Forget What We Came Here to Do in 2015, both on the Naim Jazz label, before moving to Impulse! for Your Queen Is a Reptile in 2018, which coincided with a breakout into wider public consciousness of the UK jazz scene, captured by the attention on the Hutchings-directed compilation We Out Here on Brownswood. In November the same year, Hutchings curated part of the programme for the Dutch Le Guess Who? festival.{{Cite web|url=https://www.leguesswho.nl/news/revealing-the-curators-initial-line-up-for-le-guess-who-2018|title=Revealing the curators & initial line-up for Le Guess Who? 2018|website=Leguesswho.nl|language=en|date=24 May 2018|access-date=21 June 2018}}

In March 2020, Shabaka and the Ancestors released We Are Sent Here by History under Impulse! Records. Hutchings was due to take part in a series of concerts to commemorate the 50th anniversary of Miles Davis' Bitches Brew, but these were cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.{{Cite book |url=http://archive.org/details/mojo-march-2023 |title=MOJO March 2023 |date=January 2023}} Instead, a group was assembled under the name London Brew in December 2020 to record an improvised set inspired by the 1970 album. This would go on to be released in March 2023.{{Cite web |last=Ruiz |first=Matthew Ismael |date=2023-01-19 |title=Nubya Garcia, Shabaka Hutchings, Tom Skinner, and More Announce Miles Davis Tribute Album London Brew |url=https://pitchfork.com/news/nubya-garcia-shabaka-hutchings-tom-skinner-and-more-announce-miles-davis-tribute-london-brew/ |access-date=2024-07-16 |website=Pitchfork |language=en-US}}

{{anchor|Native Rebel}}Also in 2020, Hutchings launched the London-based record label Native Rebel Recordings.{{Cite news |last=Paine |first=Andre |date=July 30, 2021 |title=Sons of Kemet's Shabaka Hutchings on his new label |url=https://www.musicweek.com/labels/read/sons-of-kemet-s-shabaka-hutchings-on-his-new-label/083822 |access-date=January 20, 2025 |work=Music Week}}{{Cite news |title=Native Rebel Recordings |url=https://nativerebelrecordings.bandcamp.com/ |access-date=January 20, 2025 |work=Bandcamp}} The idea for the label was conceived by Hutchings and music industry publisher Matt Smith. Hutchings drew inspiration from ECM Records, its founder Manfred Eicher, and the idea that a label could have an overriding aesthetic.{{Cite news |last=Gillespie |first=Blake |date=April 22, 2024 |title=With His Label Native Rebel Recordings, Shabaka Hutchings Shapes the Future of Jazz |url=https://daily.bandcamp.com/label-profile/shabaka-hutchings-native-rebel-interview |access-date=January 20, 2025 |work=Bandcamp Daily}} All of the label's releases are recorded at RAK Studios over a three-day period, with rehearsal incorporated into that time in order to emphasize first experiences with the music. The label has released albums from such artists as Chelsea Carmichael, Confucius MC and Kwake Bass, the Brother Moves On, Ganavya Doraiswamy, and Kofi Flexxx.{{Cite news |last=Empire |first=Kitty |date=September 3, 2023 |title=Kofi Flexxx: Flowers in the Dark review – jazz-hip-hop ensemble masterminded by Shabaka Hutchings |url=https://www.theguardian.com/music/2023/sep/03/kofi-flexxx-flowers-in-the-dark-review-shabaka-hutchings-jazz-hip-hop-ensemble |access-date=January 20, 2025 |work=The Guardian}} The label also released a 10th anniversary reissue of Sons of Kemet's Burn, and a remaster of the 1985 album Song of the Motherland by Hutchings' father AnkAnum.{{Cite news |last=Kelly |first=Tyler Damara |date=17 May 2024 |title=AnkAnum to release remastered edition of his 1985 album, Song of the Motherland |url=https://www.thelineofbestfit.com/news/ankanum-to-release-remastered-edition-of-his-1985-album-song-of-the-motherland |access-date=January 20, 2025 |work=The Line of Best Fit}}

In May 2022, Hutchings released his debut solo EP, Afrikan Culture, under the mononym Shabaka.{{Cite news |last=Helfand |first=Raphael |date=20 May 2022 |title=Listen to Shabaka's major label debut, Afrikan Culture |url=https://www.thefader.com/2022/05/20/shabaka-afrikan-culture |access-date=29 February 2024 |work=The Fader}} On New Year's Day in 2023, Hutchings issued a statement on his Instagram page, that he would take a hiatus from playing the saxophone from the end of 2023.{{Cite web |title=Instagram |url=https://www.instagram.com/p/Cm3eekVqstp/ |access-date=2024-01-07 |website=Instagram.com}} He later clarified his reasons for doing so, citing the physical and emotional strain that comes from performing on the saxophone on tour.{{Cite web |last=Malt |first=Andy |orig-date=2023-07-04 |title=Shabaka Hutchings explains decision to stop playing saxophone at the end of 2023 |url=https://archive.completemusicupdate.com/article/shabaka-hutchings-explains-decision-to-stop-playing-saxophone-at-the-end-of-2023/ |access-date=2024-01-07 |website=Archive.completemusicupdate.com |archive-date=25 May 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240525004811/https://archive.completemusicupdate.com/article/shabaka-hutchings-explains-decision-to-stop-playing-saxophone-at-the-end-of-2023/ |url-status=dead }} His final live saxophone performance took place on 7 December 2023, where he played John Coltrane's A Love Supreme at the Institute of Contemporary Arts in London.{{Cite news |last=Mulvey |first=John |date=23 March 2024 |title=Every breath you take |url=https://archive.org/details/mojo_mag_may_2024_80 |access-date=30 March 2024 |work=Mojo |pages=80}}

Hutchings' solo debut album, Perceive Its Beauty, Acknowledge Its Grace, was released in April 2024 by Impulse!{{Cite news |last=DeVille |first=Chris |date=28 February 2024 |title=Shabaka Hutchings Announces Debut Solo Album Feat. André 3000, Moses Sumney, Floating Points, & More |url=https://www.stereogum.com/2253475/shabaka-hutchings-announces-debut-solo-album-feat-andre-3000-moses-sumney-floating-points-more/music/ |access-date=28 February 2024 |work=Stereogum}}

Awards and honours

Hutchings has won a MOBO Award for best jazz act with the Sons of Kemet in 2013,{{Cite web|url=http://www.mobo.com/winners-2013|title=Winners 2013 {{!}} MOBO Awards|website=Mobo.com|language=en|access-date=21 June 2018}} the Paul Hamlyn Composer Award in 2014,{{Cite news|url=https://news.jazzline.com/news/shabaka-hutchings-pat-thomas-2014-paul-hamlyn-awards|title=Shabaka Hutchings & Pat Thomas Win 2014 Paul Hamlyn Awards|first=Stephen |last=Doble|work=Jazz Line News|date=17 November 2014|access-date=21 June 2018|language=en}} and Jazz Innovation awards from Jazz FM.{{Cite news|url=https://www.m-magazine.co.uk/news/events/2018-jazz-fm-award-winners-revealed/|title=2018 Jazz FM Award winners revealed|date=1 May 2018|website=M-magazine.co.uk|access-date=21 June 2018|language=en-US|archive-date=21 June 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180621065939/https://www.m-magazine.co.uk/news/events/2018-jazz-fm-award-winners-revealed/|url-status=dead}}

Discography

= Studio albums =

=As leader and co-leader=

==with [[Sons of Kemet]]==

==with [[Melt Yourself Down]]==

==with [[The Comet Is Coming]]==

==with Shabaka & the Ancestors==

  • Wisdom of Elders{{Cite web |title=Shabaka And The Ancestors – Wisdom Of Elders |url=https://www.discogs.com/master/1062513-Shabaka-And-The-Ancestors-Wisdom-Of-Elders |access-date=2024-05-13 |website=Discogs.com}} (Brownswood, 2018)
  • We Are Sent Here by History ((Impulse!, 2020)

==with others==

  • Night Time on the Middle Passage {{Cite web |title=Zed-U – Night Time On The Middle Passage |url=https://www.discogs.com/release/8192238-Zed-U-Night-Time-On-The-Middle-Passage |access-date=2024-05-13 |website=Discogs.com|date=15 June 2009 }}(Zed-U) (Babel,Bandcamp, 2009)
  • The Ragging Of Time{{Cite web |title=SFS (3) – The Ragging Of Time |url=https://www.discogs.com/release/7631094-SFS-The-Ragging-Of-Time |access-date=2024-05-13 |website=Discogs.com|date=6 October 2015 }}(SFS) (Bruce's Fingers,Bandcamp, 2015)
  • A.R.E.(Association for Research & Enlightment) Project{{Cite web |title=Hieroglyphic Being, Sarathy Korwar, Shabaka Hutchings – Association For Research & Enlightenment Project |url=https://www.discogs.com/master/1908699-Hieroglyphic-Being-Sarathy-Korwar-Shabaka-Hutchings-Association-For-Research-Enlightenment-Project |access-date=2024-05-13 |website=Discogs.com}} (Hieroglyphic Being, Sarathy Korwar, Shabaka Hutchings) (Bandcamp, 2017)
  • London Brew (Concord, 2020)

==As sideman==

  • Day to Day(Sarathy Korwar) (Ninja, 2017)
  • La Saboteuse{{Cite web |title=Yazz Ahmed – La Saboteuse |url=https://www.discogs.com/master/1199185-Yazz-Ahmed-La-Saboteuse |access-date=2024-05-13 |website=Discogs.com}}(Yazz Ahmed) (Naim, 2017)
  • Unit(e){{Cite web |title=Alexander Hawkins – Unit(e) |url=https://www.discogs.com/master/1732514-Alexander-Hawkins-Unite |access-date=2024-05-13 |website=Discogs.com}}(Alexander Hawkins) (Alexander Hawkings Music, Bandcamp 2017)
  • The Sunshine Makers{{Cite web |title=The Heliocentrics – The Sunshine Makers (Original Soundtrack) |url=https://www.discogs.com/master/2993909-The-Heliocentrics-The-Sunshine-Makers-Original-Soundtrack |access-date=2024-05-13 |website=Discogs.com}} The Heliocentrics (Soundway, 2017)
  • The Rich Are Only Defeated When Running For Their Lives{{Cite web |title=Anthony Joseph (2) – The Rich Are Only Defeated When Running For Their Lives |url=https://www.discogs.com/master/2147260-Anthony-Joseph-The-Rich-Are-Only-Defeated-When-Running-For-Their-Lives |access-date=2024-05-13 |website=Discogs.com}} (Anthony Joseph) (tracks 1 (Kamau), 5 (Swing Praxis) (Heavenly Sweetness, Bandcamp 2021)
  • Break a Vase (Alexander Hawkins Mirror Canon) {{Cite web |title=Alexander Hawkins Mirror Canon – Break A Vase |url=https://www.discogs.com/release/21936895-Alexander-Hawkins-Mirror-Canon-Break-A-Vase |access-date=2024-05-13 |website=Discogs.com|date=21 January 2022 }}(Intakt, 2022)

==As featured artist==

  • Soho Live{{Cite web |title=Shez Raja Collective – Soho Live |url=https://www.discogs.com/release/12004046-Shez-Raja-Collective-Soho-Live- |access-date=2024-05-13 |website=Discogs.com}} (Shez Raja Collective)(track 1 - Adrenalize) (33 Records, 2014)
  • Arise (track 10 - Silhouette) (Brownswood, 2017)
  • Universal Beings{{Cite web |title=Makaya McCraven – Universal Beings |url=https://www.discogs.com/master/1444351-Makaya-McCraven-Universal-Beings |access-date=2024-05-13 |website=Discogs.com}} (Makaya McCraven (tracks 7-11) (International Anthem, 2018)
  • Celia{{Cite web |title=Angelique Kidjo* – Celia |url=https://www.discogs.com/master/1571605-Angelique-Kidjo-Celia |access-date=2024-05-13 |website=Discogs.com}} (Angélique Kidjo (tracks 7-11) (Verve, 2019)
  • Yellow Ochre{{Cite web |title=Vels Trio – Yellow Ochre |url=https://www.discogs.com/master/1214572-Vels-Trio-Yellow-Ochre- |access-date=2024-05-13 |website=Discogs.com}} (Vels Trio) (track 1 - 40 Point) (Rhythm Section International, Total Refreshment Centre, Bandcamp, 2021)
  • Shout Out! To Freedom ..."{{Citation |title=Shout Out! To Freedom... - Nightmares on Wax {{!}}... {{!}} AllMusic |url=https://www.allmusic.com/album/shout-out!-to-freedom-mw0003576625 |access-date=2024-05-13 |language=en}} (tracks 4 (3D Warrior), 10 (Wonder)) "Nightmares on Wax (Warp, Bandcamp, 2021)
  • Black Classical Music (Yussef Dayes) (track 3 - Raisins Under the Sun) (Brownswood, Bandcamp, 2023)
  • Starship/Can I Know You{{Cite web |title=Afriquoi – Starship / Can I Know You |url=https://www.discogs.com/release/10175861-Afriquoi-Starship-Can-I-Know-You |access-date=2024-05-13 |website=Discogs.com|date=22 April 2017 }} (Afriquoi)(track 1 - Starship) (Wormfood Records, Bandcamp, 2017)

References

{{Reflist}}

External links

{{Commons category}}

  • {{AllMusic}}
  • {{Discogs artist}}
  • {{MusicBrainz artist}}
  • Marcus J. Moore, [https://daily.bandcamp.com/2016/09/12/shabaka-hutchings-interview/ "On 'Wisdom of Elders,' Shabaka Channels the Spirit of South African Jazz"] (interview), Bandcamp Daily, 2016.
  • [https://nytimes.com/2017/08/29/arts/music/jazz-refreshed-london.html Ambassadors of London's Revitalised Jazz Scene come to New York] – UK Jazz showcase article in The New York Times featuring Hutchings as part of Jazz re:freshed Outernational showcases, 2017

{{The Comet Is Coming}}

{{Sons of Kemet}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hutchings, Shabaka}}

Category:1984 births

Category:Living people

Category:21st-century British clarinetists

Category:21st-century British saxophonists

Category:English people of Barbadian descent

Category:British jazz bandleaders

Category:British jazz composers

Category:English jazz clarinetists

Category:English jazz saxophonists

Category:Musicians from London

Category:Sons of Kemet members

Category:The Spatial AKA Orchestra members

Category:Tomorrow's Warriors alumni

Category:Alumni of the Guildhall School of Music and Drama