Sons of Kemet are a British
jazz
Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a m ...
group formed by
Shabaka Hutchings
Shabaka Hutchings is a British jazz musician, composer and bandleader. He leads the bands Sons of Kemet and Shabaka and the Ancestors. He is also a member of The Comet Is Coming, performing under the stage name King Shabaka. Hutchings has p ...
, Oren Marshall,
Seb Rochford
Sebastian Rochford is a British drummer and composer. He has recorded and released music as leader of the British band Polar Bear, as Kutcha Butcha and as part of numerous collaborations.
Early life
Rochford was born in Aberdeen and has a large ...
, and
Tom Skinner
Sir Thomas Edward Skinner (18 April 1909 – 11 November 1991) was a New Zealand politician and Trades Union leader.
Sir Tom served as President of the Auckland Trades Council from 1954 to 1976, and President of the New Zealand Federation of ...
.
Theon Cross
Theon Cross is a British tuba player and composer.
Background
Born and raised in London to a Jamaican father and Saint Lucian mother, he began taking tenor horn lessons at the age of 8, then switched to tuba when he was in his mid-teens. He stu ...
replaced Marshall on tuba after the first album, and Eddie Hick replaced Rochford on drums after the third.
Career
The group uses saxophone and clarinet (Hutchings), tuba (Cross), and two drummers (Skinner, Hick) to make their music and plays a mixture of
jazz
Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a m ...
, rock,
Caribbean folk, and African music.
On 9 September 2013, Sons of Kemet released their debut album ''
Burn
A burn is an injury to skin, or other tissues, caused by heat, cold, electricity, chemicals, friction, or ultraviolet radiation (like sunburn). Most burns are due to heat from hot liquids (called scalding), solids, or fire. Burns occur ma ...
'', which received the Arts Desk Album of the Year 2013 and a nomination for
Gilles Peterson
Gilles Jérôme Moehrle MBE (; born 28 September 1964), better known as Gilles Peterson (), is a French broadcaster, DJ, and record label owner. He founded the influential labels Acid Jazz and Talkin' Loud, and started his current label Brow ...
'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. The group won Best Jazz Act at the 2013
MOBO Awards
The MOBO Awards (Music of Black Origin, also known as the MOBOs) are an annual British music award presentation honouring achievements in " music of black origin", including hip hop, grime, UK Drill, R&B, soul, reggae, jazz, gospel, and ...
.
On 30 March 2018,
Impulse!
Impulse! Records (occasionally styled as "¡mpulse! Records" and "¡!") is an American jazz record company and label established by Creed Taylor in 1960. John Coltrane was among Impulse!'s earliest signings. Thanks to consistent sales and positiv ...
released the band's third album, ''
Your Queen Is a Reptile
''Your Queen Is a Reptile'' is the third album by British jazz group Sons of Kemet, released in March 2018 on Impulse! Records. Band leader Shabaka Hutchings wrote and plays saxophone on all tracks, Theon Cross plays tuba, and Seb Rochford and ...
''. It was nominated for the 2018
Mercury Prize
The Mercury Prize, formerly called the Mercury Music Prize, is an annual music prize awarded for the best album released in the United Kingdom by a British or Irish act. It was created by Jon Webster and Robert Chandler in association with the B ...
.
On 14 May 2021, the fourth album by Sons of Kemet, ''
Black to the Future'', was released. Hubert Adjei-Kontoh, writing for ''
Pitchfork
A pitchfork (also a hay fork) is an agricultural tool with a long handle and two to five tines used to lift and pitch or throw loose material, such as hay, straw, manure, or leaves.
The term is also applied colloquially, but inaccurately, to ...
'', described the album as a "propulsive mind- and body-moving record", while
Kitty Empire
Kitty Empire is the pen name of a British writer and music critic, currently writing for ''The Observer''.
Early life
Empire says that she was born in Montreal, Quebec in 1970 and brought up in Canada, Italy and Egypt before arriving in Britain ...
writing for ''
The Guardian
''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...
'' described it as "an eloquent dance between anger and joy" and praised the lyric writing and instrumentals of the album.
On June 1, 2022, they posted that after the current run of shows, "we will closing this chapter of the band's life for the foreseeable future."
Band members
Current
*
Shabaka Hutchings
Shabaka Hutchings is a British jazz musician, composer and bandleader. He leads the bands Sons of Kemet and Shabaka and the Ancestors. He is also a member of The Comet Is Coming, performing under the stage name King Shabaka. Hutchings has p ...
, saxophone and clarinet
*
Tom Skinner
Sir Thomas Edward Skinner (18 April 1909 – 11 November 1991) was a New Zealand politician and Trades Union leader.
Sir Tom served as President of the Auckland Trades Council from 1954 to 1976, and President of the New Zealand Federation of ...
, drums
*
Theon Cross
Theon Cross is a British tuba player and composer.
Background
Born and raised in London to a Jamaican father and Saint Lucian mother, he began taking tenor horn lessons at the age of 8, then switched to tuba when he was in his mid-teens. He stu ...
, tuba
* Eddie Hick, drums
Past
*
Seb Rochford
Sebastian Rochford is a British drummer and composer. He has recorded and released music as leader of the British band Polar Bear, as Kutcha Butcha and as part of numerous collaborations.
Early life
Rochford was born in Aberdeen and has a large ...
, drums
*
Oren Marshall, tuba
Discography
* ''
Burn
A burn is an injury to skin, or other tissues, caused by heat, cold, electricity, chemicals, friction, or ultraviolet radiation (like sunburn). Most burns are due to heat from hot liquids (called scalding), solids, or fire. Burns occur ma ...
'' (
Naim
Naim (also spelled Na'im, Nayeem, Naeem, Naiem, Nahim, Naheem, Nyhiem, Nihiem, Nyheim, Niheem, or Nahiem) ( ar, نعیم, he, נעים) is a male given name and surname.
Notable persons with the name include:
*Naim ibn Hammad (died 843 AD), H ...
, 2013)
* ''
Lest We Forget What We Came Here to Do'' (Naim, 2015)
* ''
Your Queen Is a Reptile
''Your Queen Is a Reptile'' is the third album by British jazz group Sons of Kemet, released in March 2018 on Impulse! Records. Band leader Shabaka Hutchings wrote and plays saxophone on all tracks, Theon Cross plays tuba, and Seb Rochford and ...
'' (
Impulse!
Impulse! Records (occasionally styled as "¡mpulse! Records" and "¡!") is an American jazz record company and label established by Creed Taylor in 1960. John Coltrane was among Impulse!'s earliest signings. Thanks to consistent sales and positiv ...
, 2018)
* ''
Black to the Future'' (Impulse!, 2021)
Videography
Awards
*2013
MOBO Awards
The MOBO Awards (Music of Black Origin, also known as the MOBOs) are an annual British music award presentation honouring achievements in " music of black origin", including hip hop, grime, UK Drill, R&B, soul, reggae, jazz, gospel, and ...
– Best Jazz Act (Winner)
References
External links
*
{{Authority control
Musical groups from London
Musical groups established in 2011
2011 establishments in England