Shabaka // Kahil El’Zabar’s Ethnic Heritage Ensemble

The band leader of Sons of Kemet, the Comet Is Coming, and Shabaka & the Ancestors, Shabaka Hutchings is leading the way for the renaissance of British jazz. He is also embarking on a solo career, dropping his last name, and producing music that that represents a change of pace from his usual high energy blasts of rhythmic, propulsive music. On his debut solo EP, Afrikan Culture, Shabaka turned to the meditative and ethereal, as well as the shakuhachi, a Japanese flute. While the album represents a new chapter, it “still crackles with his signature energy.” (The Guardian). 

Multi-instrumentalist Kahil El’Zabar founded the Ethnic Heritage Ensemble and since 1981, they have released over a dozen albums. Their latest release, Spirit Gatherer: Tribute to Don Cherry is praised as “gritty, groovecentric and exquisitely beautiful.” (All About Jazz) The album honours Don Cherry, the great jazz trumpeter, who had a profound influence on El’Zabar. The Ensemble have been successfully combining concepts of African American music-making with African traditions to create a new sound, culminating in this 50^th anniversary tour.  A legendary band with a devout following, the Ethnic Heritage Ensemble impart “spiritual jazz ecstasy” (The Washington Post) with every performance.