The Exploratory Instincts of Shabaka and the Ancestors’ We Are Sent Here By History

on Impulse! Records
Reviewed by Henry Cherry

Shabaka Hutchings, the London based musician behind The Comet is Coming and Sons of Kemet, had just released a second recording with his South African based project, Shabaka & the Ancestors when Covid-19 canceled the promotional tour along with everything else in the world. Hutchings spoke with NPR about the illness, its impact on touring musicians and the financial hit the quarantine has put on those musicians. “Literally, all my gigs in the next two months have been canceled. And everyone I know is in the same boat.” Questions surround the entire world as markets crash, people lose jobs across every sector, and the illness continues to mount. Hutchings isn’t a doomsayer. “We have to make the best of the situation, or the situation will just be tragic. And all situations have the potential to be tragic, or the potential to be tragic and transformative.”

The Ancestors are a band of South African musicians Hutchings met while exploring the country on several visits throughout the 2010s. From those investigatory trips, Hutchings learned part of the musical heritage of Africa. That inspired him to form this band, whose members are, outside of Hutchings, all based in South Africa.