Sons of Kemet
You need to listen to them. (The Bus 4.14)
Welcome aboard The Bus!
The Stop
Sons of Kemet was a politically-minded, British ‘modern jazz supergroup.’ Named after the ancient name for Egypt,1 the group was formed by saxophonist, clarinetist, and composer Shabaka Hutchings in 2011. Over the next ten years, the band released four highly-acclaimed albums before officially disbanding following a tour in 2022.2
Combining ‘modal and free jazz, African rhythms and modes, and Caribbean dub and Middle Eastern timbres,’ the band’s sound was largely directed by Hutchings, who’s ‘drive and passion for knowledge’ combined with experience ‘playing across the South London musical and genre spectrum, and his work with musicians from across the African continent.’ The remainder of the quartet included Oren Marshall (and later Theon Cross) on tuba, and Seb Rochford and Tom Skinner on drums and percussion.
Hutchings was born in London, but spent his childhood in Barbados, where he learned the clarinet and performed in calypso and reggae bands. Returning to the U.K, he attended London’s Guildhall School of Music and Drama, discovering he was ‘just as comfortable playing free jazz as he was playing swing.’ Deciding to return to his musical roots, Hutchings moved back to Barbados to study with ethnomusicologists specialising in Caribbean music. Returning once more to London, he formed three distinctive groups, each exploring a different sound, in an attempt to ‘unite the different strands of the African diaspora’ to manifest his belief that social ‘change comes from speaking directly about collective oppression.’
The band’s debut album, Burn, was released in 2013, winning the jazz award at that year’s MOBOs.3 Their second album, Lest We Forget What We Came Here to Do, appeared in 2016 to ‘widespread critical acclaim,’ and in 2018 they released the ‘sociopolitical’ Your Queen Is a Reptile, an album of nine tracks - each titled after a woman important to African heritage and history. Their fourth and final album, Black to the Future, was released in May 2021. Nominated for the Mercury Prize that year, it is ‘highly accessible, politically engaged jazz … more focused on communication than individual experimentation.’ Recorded largely after the murder of George Floyd and the Black Lives Matter protests that followed, the music epitomises the band’s commitment to ‘psychic resistance’ by ‘harnessing anger, expressing joy, acknowledging sorrow and committing to a future that is different from the past.’
Of course, words can’t convey a band’s sound. Consequently, today’s Sounds playlist is a selection of five of their tracks I’ve recently enjoyed, and you can also follow this link to see a short live set: Sons of Kemet (From the Basement).
The Detour
Today’s Detour is to ‘Most recognisable song each year of the past 100 years’, an odd collection (14:03) of song snippets which make the cut according to how recognisable they are to listeners today. At best, this measurement is dubious, but it’s an interesting list nevertheless as it starts with George Gershwin and ends with Miley Cyrus.4 Whether these are the ‘most recognisable’ songs each year or not, it’s certainly worth a watch - if only to see the way music has evolved over the past century. It’s also quite fun.
Most Recognisable Songs from the Last 100 Years
The Recommendation
Today’s Recommendation is Mickey Hart’s Planet Drum (1991). A musician and musicologist who was also a member of The Grateful Dead, Hart’s beautifully illustrated exploration of the world of percussion and rhythm covers percussion’s history, its current status and its potential for the future. The book is a must-read for anyone interested in percussion or world music - especially as so much indigenous music is disappearing.
From the back cover: Ranging from the ‘big bang’ to the present, from Mesopotamia to Bunker Hill, Planet Drum uses hundreds of breathtaking images to take a panoramic look at the power and mystery of percussion and provide a stunning pictorial map of the world beat.
Planet Drum is available from local used or new bookstores, charity shops or, of course, the library.
The Sounds
Today’s playlist is a selection of five tracks by Sons of Kemet: ‘My Queen is Albertina Sisulu’ (Your Queen is a Reptile, 2018), ‘Hustle’ (Black to the Future, 2021), ‘Breadfruit’ (Lest We Forget What We Came Here To Do, 2015), ‘Going Home’ (Burn, 2013) and ‘Think of Home’ (Black to the Future, 2021). Enjoy!
The Thought
Today’s Thought is from Mickey Hart:
‘There's nothing like music to relieve the soul and uplift it.’
If you have a thought on this Thought - or any part of today’s issue - please leave a comment below:
And that’s the end of this Stop - I hope you enjoyed the diversion!
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Until the next Stop …
‘Kemet’ means the ‘Black Land’, a name derived from the colour of the rich and fertile black soil produce by the annual flooding of the Nile River.
I had never heard of Sons of Kemet until just over a month ago when I used The Smile’s NPR Tiny Desk Concert as a Detour (The Bus 4.4) and discovered their drummer, Tom Skinner, had played in this band. While I’ve liked jazz for years, it’s usually been the classic stuff - Miles Davis, Thelonious Monk, John Coltrane, etc. - but this group intrigued me and, well, I’ve got a new set of albums on my playlist. Not to mention an entirely new appreciation for the tuba! Sources for today’s Stop include Sons of Kemet: Black to the Future (The Guardian), Sons of Kemet: Black to the Future (Pitchfork) and Sons of Kemet (Allmusic).
The MOBO Awards is an annual British awards presentation given to achievements in ‘music of Black origin.’
Who happens to be singing ‘Flowers’ - a song I, for one, have never heard before. So, it’s definitely ‘recognisable’ stuff.