Shabaka Hutchings is a London-born, Barbados-raised composer and multi-instrumentalist, known for his work with Sons of Kemet, The Comet Is Coming, and Shabaka and the Ancestors. A key figure in the new London scene, he moves freely between jazz, Afro-Caribbean rhythms, experimental electronics, and sonic poetry. In 2024, he announced a hiatus from playing the saxophone to fully dedicate himself to flutes – from the Japanese shakuhachi to South American quenas – expanding his practice into spiritual and meditative realms.

Shabaka’s style draws on the traditions of Afrofuturism, experimental music, classical composition, and oral ritual forms. Yet this is no mere eclecticism – it is a deliberate search for new modes of expression and an embodiment of artistic transformation. His recent work leans toward contemplation, where sound becomes breath.

Following his acclaimed projects with Sons of Kemet and collaborations with Floating Points, Sun Ra Arkestra and André 3000, Shabaka returned in 2024 with the solo album Perceive Its Beauty, Acknowledge Its Grace (Impulse!), recorded at the legendary Rudy Van Gelder Studio and created in collaboration with artists such as Esperanza Spalding, Saul Williams and Floating Points. The album continues his concept of “sonic poems” – compositions in which titles are as integral to meaning as the music itself.

“Music is not hard – just practice it mechanically, then allow your soul to shine through” – a childhood saying that has become his lifelong motto.