Sons of Kemet were a British jazz band formed by Shabaka Hutchings, Oren Marshall, Seb Rochford, and Tom Skinner. Theon Cross replaced Marshall on tuba after the first album, and Eddie Hick replaced Rochford on drums after the third. They disbanded in 2022.Pitchfork: Sons of Kemet Breaking Up After Final Shows | Pitchfork, accessdate: May 23, 2023
Career The band used saxophone and clarinet (Hutchings), tuba (Cross), and two drummers (Skinner, Hick) to make their music and played a mixture of jazz, rock, Caribbean folk, and African music.Ouellette, Dan (May 2014) "Sons of Kemet: 'Vibrating in Space'". DownBeat. p. 20.
On 9 September 2013, Sons of Kemet released their debut album Burn, which received the Arts Desk Album of the Year 2013 and a nomination for Gilles Peterson'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 band won Best Jazz Act at the 2013 MOBO Awards.
On 30 March 2018, Impulse! released the band's third album, Your Queen Is a Reptile. It was nominated for the 2018 Mercury Prize.
On 14 May 2021, the fourth album by Sons of Kemet, Black to the Future, was released. Hubert Adjei-Kontoh, writing for Pitchfork, described the album as a "propulsive mind- and body-moving record", while Kitty Empire writing for The Observer described it as "an eloquent dance between anger and joy" and praised the lyric writing and instrumentals of the album.
On 1 June 2022, they posted that after the current run of shows, "we will be closing this chapter of the band's life for the foreseeable future."
Band members Final Shabaka Hutchings – saxophone, clarinet Tom Skinner – drums Theon Cross – tuba Eddie Hick – drums
Past Seb Rochford – drums Oren Marshall – tuba
Discography Burn (Naim, 2013) Lest We Forget What We Came Here to Do (Naim, 2015) Your Queen Is a Reptile (Impulse!, 2018) Black to the Future (Impulse!, 2021)
Videography YearTitleDirectorChoreographerRef2016"In the Castle of My Skin"Motheo MoengJarrel Mathebula2015"Play Mass"Jordan CopelandValeria Tello Giusti
Awards 2013 MOBO Awards – Best Jazz Act (Winner)
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External links