Shabaka Hutchings (Photo: Hayley Louisa Brown)
Shabaka Hutchings’ music makes fans dance and think. The dual ability to get hips swaying and synapses firing has made him one of the brightest stars in the jazz universe.
Based in London and named after an Egyptian pharaoh, the 37-year-old multi-reedist has made waves with three bands, all of which are signed to the Impulse record label: Shabaka And The Ancestors, The Comet Is Coming and Sons of Kemet.
In the 2020 DownBeat Critics Poll, Hutchings topped the category Rising Star Jazz Artist of the Year, and Shabaka And The Ancestors won the category Rising Star Jazz Group. Those accolades are the latest evidence that fans far beyond the U.K. are championing his artistic output.