Shabaka Hutchings, the saxophonist behind Sons of Kemet, The Comet is Coming and Melt Yourself Down, presents his new collaboration with The Ancestors, for their first ever UK show. The album recorded by Hutchings and The South African musicians, led by trumpeter Mandla Mlangeni, was completed in one session and has been described by The Guardian as “pulsing, exploratory and vibrant”.

“I see energy as being a form of wisdom to be passed down through the ages.” Unpicking the title of his album for Brownswood, Shabaka Hutchings explains, “When we study the music, the lives, the words of our master musicians we obtain a glimpse of that artist’s essential energy source. This is the core vitality of the individual which leads them to utilise the musical specifics of their chosen genre in a way that mirrors their inner source of power. This is an intuited wisdom that’s handed to us from the legacies of our elders.”

Shabaka Hutchings – tenor sax

Mthunzi Mvubu – alto sax

Siyabonga Mthembu – vocals

Ariel Zamonsky – bass

Tumi Mogorosi – drums

Gontse Makhene – Percussions