Sons Of Kemet

“Burn”

(Naim Jazz naimcd195)

The band Sons Of Kemet has generated an extraordinary amount of excitement during its two year existence. Led by BBC Radio 3 New Generations artist Shabaka Hutchings the group features an unusual (if not unique) instrumental configuration of Hutchings on saxophones and clarinet, Oren Marshall on tuba plus the twin drum attack of Tom Skinner and Sebastian Rochford. As can be imagined the Sons’ live shows are a thrillingly rhythmic experience and I’ve already been lucky enough to witness two of them, the group’s first show outside London at The Hare & Hounds in Kings Heath, Birmingham in June 2012 and a brilliant performance at the 2013 Cheltenham Jazz Festival. Both shows are reviewed elsewhere on this site and both represented considerable triumphs for the group.

Such is the reputation that the group have accrued for the quality of their live shows and radio broadcasts (Jazz on 3’s Jez Nelson has been a tireless champion of the band) that “Burn” has been one of the most keenly anticipated releases of 2013. I’m pleased to report that it doesn’t disappoint.
Although it’s impossible for a record to fully capture the excitement of the group’s live shows there is still much to enjoy with producer Rochford subtly enhancing the recorded sound with a variety of electronic effects. The guitar of David Okumu, who appeared regularly with the group in their early days, graces two cuts.

Ultimately the music on “Burn” is Hutchings’ vision, a highly personal summation of his roots including a childhood upbringing in Barbados and periods spent living in Birmingham and London.
In part Kemet’s music represents an attempt to synthesise various elements of Caribbean music into a loosely defined jazz format but there’s also Hutchings’ ongoing fascination with the sources of Caribbean music and its roots and origins in Africa. The band name derives from Hutchings’  own, Shabaka was the last Nubian king of Egypt and Kemet the name of black Egypt.

Hutchings and Skinner played together in the trio Zed U with bassist Neil Charles, a good band but one whose output is surpassed by Sons Of Kemet. “Burn” represents Hutchings most interesting and mature work to date, a real coming of age that finally confirms his immense promise.

The drum tattoos of Skinner and Rochford usher in the opening “All Will Surely Burn”, these soon augmented by Marshall’s harrumphing tuba and finally the leader’s incisive reeds. The music is urgent and intensely rhythmic, the title a veiled reference to the dangers of global warming. Rochford adds judicious dub reggae effects as Hutchings’ tenor rides the rhythmic wave. Hutchings cites the influence of the late Jamaican saxophonist Cedric “Im” Brooks and his musical partner the drummer Count Ossie, Rastafarian musicians who also delved into the African roots of Caribbean music.

“The Godfather” homages the Ethiopian musician Mulatu Atsatkue and features Hutchings on clarinet. Both Hutchings and Skinner have played with the Ethiopian in recent years and this is an excellent tribute with Hutchings’ clarinet dancing lightly over Marshall’s earthy tuba vamp and the interlocking rhythms of the two drummers. Having witnessed Rochford and Skinner performing live I can confirm that they work together like a single organism, each complementing the other’s playing but never getting in one another’s way. With his producer’s hat on Rochford sprinkles further handfuls of electronic fairy dust onto the already compelling music.

“Inner Babylon”, a tirade against the overwhelming cultural influence of America, features one of Hutchings’ most immediate and arresting riffs. His declamatory tenor scythes a way through the furious lattice of tribal rhythms, this is angry but viscerally thrilling - and readily accessible - music. The title is a knowing reference to Max Romeo’s reggae classic “War Ina Babylon”. 
Something of a polymath, Hutchings’ interests extend to literature and the more impressionistic “The Book Of Disquiet” is inspired by the writings of the Portuguese poet Fernando Pessoa (1888-1935).  At the Birmingham show mentioned above these two tunes were played together as a kind of segue but they are quire clearly separated on CD.

“Going Home” sees Hutchings return to the clarinet, soaring airily above the dub style grooves generated by his colleagues, including Okumu guesting on guitar.

Okumu sticks around for “Adonia’s Lullaby”, another example of the group’s more contemplative side with Hutchings adopting a darker hued clarinet sound

Hutchings’ literary leanings again find voice in “Song For Galeano”, a delightfully atmospheric tribute to the Uruguayan author Eduardo Galeano (born 1940). Hutchings’ clarinet sound is fragile, almost flute like, his vulnerability offset by the broodingly atmospheric tuba sounds and mallet rumbles percolating just below the surface.

Following these effective demonstrations of his group’s more reflective tendencies Hutchings returns to the tenor for the barnstorming “Beware”, a regular highlight of the Sons’ hugely exciting live shows.  Marshall’s astonishing tuba vamp starts things off, soon joined by the snap and clatter of the twin drum attack and finally Hutchings’ declamatory tenor. It’s wildly exciting music with Marshall’s tuba a constant presence throughout. He’s one of Britain’s most remarkable musicians, a player who has extended the vocabulary of his instrument both through his extraordinary technique and through his use of electronics.

“The Itis”, which habitually closes the Sons’ gigs is hewn from the same rock, boasting an infectious melodic hook which the group deliver in thrillingly exciting and visceral fashion with Hutchings’ towering tenor blending with Marshall’s snorting tuba and Skinner and Rochford’s coruscating cross rhythms. In their wilder moments there’s a palpable sense of “attitude” about Sons Of Kemet’s performances, a bravura that has cemented their reputation as a great live band and fuelled the rising sense of anticipation about this album.

At the Birmingham show I was both surprised and delighted by the band’s choice of encore as they reclaimed “Rivers Of Babylon” from Boney M and restored its dignity. Described by Hutchings as a “standard within the Caribbean tradition and a staple of Rastafarian nyabinghi drumming” the Sons’ version is stately and dignified with the group stripping away Boney M’s enforced perkiness and once more investing the song with the gravitas the unsung lyric deserves. In Kemet’s hands it becomes a lament once more, with a substantial hint of a New Orleans funeral march as Hutchings again emphasises the musical, cultural and spiritual links between West Africa, the Caribbean, the Crescent City and beyond - and you can include Birmingham and London here. Rochford’s production effects add greatly to the atmosphere, the dub allusions referencing the song’s Jamaican roots. 

Its very uniqueness makes Sons Of Kemet’s music very difficult to describe or pigeon-hole but make no mistake this is a hugely exciting record and one of the key UK releases of 2013. Wildly visceral and broodingly atmospheric by turns the album works as a stand alone entity and represents more than just an adjunct to the group’s barnstorming live shows.

Of course it’s principally Hutching’s triumph but Rochford’s production is also highly significant. Best known as the leader of Polar Bear (for whom Hutchings has been a regular dep and speaks glowingly of the influence of that group’s music upon his own) Rochford’s involvement on any record is pretty much a guarantee of quality and interest whether as drummer, producer, composer or all three.

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