Shabaka and the Ancestors — Music Videos

Shabaka and the Ancestors is the ensemble connecting British-Barbadian saxophonist Shabaka Hutchings with South African musicians. Its music brings spiritual jazz, layered percussion, insistent melodic figures, and a strong sense of collective improvisation into the same setting.

Wisdom of Elders, released in 2016, introduced the group on record. We Are Sent Here by History followed in 2020, expanding the role of voice and the relationship between musical repetition and spoken or sung expression. These are ensemble recordings in which each part helps determine the direction of the whole.

A recurring bass figure or horn phrase often provides the ground for a performance to grow. Listen to how the percussion changes around that figure and how a vocal entrance can reframe a passage that first seemed purely instrumental.