Sons of Kemet | Artist

Sons of Kemet is a British jazz-fusion group formed 2011 in London by Shabaka Hutchings (saxophone, clarinet), Oren Marshall (Tuba), Seb Rochford (drums), and Tom Skinner (drums). Theon Cross later replaced Oren Marshall on Tuba. The unusual lineup of saxophone, tuba and two drummers lays the platform for the band's mixture of jazz, rock, Caribbean folk and African music. 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. On 30 March 2018, Impulse! Records released the band's third album, Your Queen is a Reptile, which was nominated for the 2018 Mercury Prize. Their most recent album to-date Black to the Future was released on May 2021, also on Impulse! The band's fusion sound based on rhythmic patterns created by the two drummers interlaced with the tuba handling the bass lines, form the basis of the melodies created by saxophonist Shabaka Hutchings - who The Guardian described as "a saxophonist whose relentless energy and pioneering spirit have been key to the development of the British jazz scene over the past decade." Hutchings is also active in other projects including Shabaka and the Ancestors and The Comet is Coming. Sons of Kemet won a MOBO Award for best jazz act in 2013, and Shabaka Hutchings won the Paul Hamlyn Composer Award and Jazz Innovation awards from Jazz FM. All the band's studio albums are recommended, especially Your Queen is a Reptile.

Artist Website: shabakahutchings.com/sons-of-kemet/

Featured Albums: Sons of Kemet

Related Artists: Shabaka Hutchings, The Comet is Coming

Video Clips: In The Castle of my Skin, Your Queen is a Reptile, Live in Studio