Shabaka
The magic flute

Following a few seasons of reflection, British jazzman Shabaka Hutchings has released a debut album, both solo and collaborative, of rare contemplative beauty.

In 1959, just a few years after starting out with the prestigious Blue Note label, whose sound he helped to shape, Rudy Van Gelder built his own studio, through which the likes of John Coltrane (for A Love Supreme, no less), Herbie Hancock, Sonny Rollins and Miles Davis have passed through, just some of the idols that graced these studios where Shabaka Hutchings came to record.  A well known name on the London neo-jazz scene, with his group Sons of Kemet, Shabaka spent part of his childhood in Barbados, where his parents were born, before devoting himself at an early age to classical music and jazz, via the clarinet and, above all, the saxophone. Now, in 2024 it’s a new departure for Shabaka with Perceive its Beauty, Acknowledge its Grace, a promising title in itself ! Switching from sax to flute, Shabaka  who uses only his first name here  explores the flute's full melodic and rhythmic potential, from Japanese shakuhachi to Mayan drone flutes from Teotihuacan...