Sons of Kemet | |
|---|---|
 Sons of Kemet performing at the 2018 Oslo Jazz festival | |
| Background information | |
| Origin | London, England |
| Genres | Jazz, Afrobeat, world, avant-garde jazz |
| Years active | 2011–2022 |
| Labels | Naim, Impulse! |
| Members | |
| Past members |
|
Sons of Kemet were a British jazz band formed by Shabaka Hutchings, Oren Marshall, Seb Rochford, and Tom Skinner. [1] Theon Cross replaced Marshall on tuba after the first album, and Eddie Hick replaced Rochford on drums after the third. They disbanded in 2022. [2]
The band used saxophone and clarinet (Hutchings), tuba (Cross), and two drummers (Skinner, Hick) to make their music and played a mixture of jazz, rock, Caribbean folk, and African music. [3]
On 9 September 2013, Sons of Kemet released their debut album Burn , which received the Arts Desk Album of the Year 2013 and a nomination for Gilles Peterson's Album of the Year. Their next album Lest We Forget What We Came Here to Do received the same nomination for the year 2015. The band won Best Jazz Act at the 2013 MOBO Awards. [4]
On 30 March 2018, Impulse! released the band's third album, Your Queen Is a Reptile . It was nominated for the 2018 Mercury Prize. [5]
On 14 May 2021, the fourth album by Sons of Kemet, Black to the Future , was released. Hubert Adjei-Kontoh, writing for Pitchfork , described the album as a "propulsive mind- and body-moving record", [6] while Kitty Empire writing for The Observer described it as "an eloquent dance between anger and joy" and praised the lyric writing and instrumentals of the album. [7]
On 1 June 2022, they posted that after the current run of shows, "we will be closing this chapter of the band's life for the foreseeable future." [8] [2]
Final
Past
| Year | Title | Director | Choreographer | Ref |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2016 | "In the Castle of My Skin" | Motheo Moeng | Jarrel Mathebula | [9] |
| 2015 | "Play Mass" | Jordan Copeland | Valeria Tello Giusti | [10] [11] |
Polar Bear are a British experimental jazz band led by drummer Seb Rochford with Pete Wareham and Mark Lockheart on tenor saxophone, Tom Herbert on double bass and Leafcutter John on electronics and occasionally guitar or mandolin.
Sebastian Rochford is a Scottish drummer and composer. He has recorded and released music as leader of the British band Polar Bear, as Kutcha Butcha and as part of numerous collaborations.
Nick Ramm is an English, London-based, pianist and composer.
Pete Wareham is a British saxophonist, composer and band leader. He led the genre-defying North African/punk/jazz/dance band Melt Yourself Down and was a member of Nadine Shah’s Mercury Prize-nominated band, Seb Rochford’s Pulled By Magnets and also ran the influential group Acoustic Ladyland. Formerly of Rochford’s now disbanded Mercury Prize-nominated Polar Bear, Wareham has also played saxophone and flute with The Smile, Sons Of Kemet, Mica Levi, James Chance, Supergrass, Ben E King.
Melt Yourself Down are a London-based band who incorporate elements of West African musical styles (afrobeat), punk, jazz and funk. Founded in January 2012, the band is led by saxophonist Pete Wareham, former leader of now defunct jazz/punk band Acoustic Ladyland and saxophonist in British jazz band Polar Bear. The original line-up included saxophonist Shabaka Hutchings, drummer Tom Skinner, vocalist Kushal Gaya, bassist Ruth Goller and percussionist Satin Singh.
Burn is a debut studio album by British jazz band Sons of Kemet released on 9 September 2013 by Naim Records label. This album, and their running series of critically acclaimed performances, led to them winning the 'Best Jazz Act' in the 2013 MOBO Awards.
Same as You is the sixth studio album by British jazz band Polar Bear. It was released on 30 March 2015 by The Leaf Label.
The Comet Is Coming was a London-based band that incorporated elements of jazz, electronica, funk and psychedelic rock.
Your Queen Is a Reptile is the third album by British jazz group Sons of Kemet, released in March 2018 on Impulse! Records. Band leader Shabaka Hutchings wrote and plays saxophone on all tracks, Theon Cross plays tuba, and Seb Rochford and Tom Skinner play drums. It also features toaster Congo Natty and performance poet Josh Idehen.
Shabaka Hutchings, 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. 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.
Theon Cross is a British tuba player and composer.
Tom Skinner is an English drummer, percussionist and record producer. He co-founded the jazz band Sons of Kemet and the rock band the Smile. He has released two albums under the name Hello Skinny. His first album under his own name, Voices of Bishara, was released in November 2022.
SEED Ensemble are a 10-piece British jazz ensemble led by Cassie Kinoshi. In 2019, they were nominated for the Mercury Music Prize.
We Are Sent Here by History is a studio album by British-Barbadian musician Shabaka Hutchings, under his band Shabaka and the Ancestors. It was released on 13 March 2020 under Impulse! Records.
Lest We Forget What We Came Here to Do is the second studio album by British jazz band Sons of Kemet. The album was released on 25 September 2015 by Naim label.
This is a timeline documenting events of jazz in the year 2021.
Black to the Future is the fourth and final studio album by British jazz group Sons of Kemet. It was released via Impulse! Records on 14 May 2021 to widespread critical acclaim from music critics.
Voices of Bishara is a studio album by the English drummer Tom Skinner, released on 4 November 2022 by via Nonesuch Records, International Anthem Recording Company, and Brownswood Recordings. It was ranked among the best jazz albums of 2022 by multiple critics.
London Brew is the debut album by London Brew, a band consisting of a dozen British jazz musicians including Nubya Garcia, BBC Radio 1 presenter Benji B, and multiple members of Sons of Kemet and the Invisible. The album was released on 31 March 2023.
Perceive Its Beauty, Acknowledge Its Grace is the solo debut studio album of London jazz musician Shabaka Hutchings, working under the name Shabaka. It was released by Impulse! Records on 12 April 2024. The album was preceded by two singles, "End of Innocence" and "I'll Do Whatever You Want".
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
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