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, Brazilian pifanos and South American quenas.

With this as his starting point, the musician invited a number of artistic accomplices to the Rudy Van Gelder studio to perform on eleven tracks, the humility of which did little to detract from the dexterity displayed in the hypnotic power of the enchanted flutes. We hear the voices or instruments of Lianne La Havas, bassist and double bass player Esperanza Spalding, André 3000 from OutKast, Floating Points, ambient master Laraaji, singer Moses Sumney, poet and multi-talent Saul Williams...

The star studded cast shines alongside a minimalist sound that evokes both the Afrocentrism of some of its performers and our own emotional experience. It's all about beauty and grace.