Shabaka & The Ancestors We Are Sent Here By History

Shabaka & The Ancestors
We Are Sent Here By History
Impulse!

The partnership between British-Bahamian saxophonist, clarinetist and bandleader, Shabaka Hutchings, and a group of South African musicians has produced one of the most intriguing and gripping jazz recordings of recent years. Besides Hutchings' tenor saxophone and clarinet, other members of the band are Mthunzi Mvubu – Alto Sax, Siyabonga Mthembu – Vocals, Ariel Zamonsky – Double bass, Gontse Makhene – Percussion, and Tumi Mogorosi – Drums. Nduduzo Makhathini and Thandi Ntuli guest on piano, while Mandla Mlangeni contributes on trumpet.

This album is conceptualized as an hour-long sonic poem, with lyrics written and performed by Siyabonga Mthembu and spoken, sung, chanted, and rapped by Mthembu. In Hutchings' words, it is "a meditation on the fact of our coming extinction as a species. It is a reflection from the ruins, from the burning. a questioning of the steps to be taken in preparation for our transition individually and societally if the end is to be seen as anything but a tragic defeat." Further, it is a reflection "[f]or those lives lost and cultures dismantled by centuries of western expansionism, capitalist thought and white supremacist structural hegemony … ."

This recording is a powerful musical statement opening with "They Who Must Die," a mesmerizing African rhythmic vamp over which Hutchings comes off with the energy of an Archie Shepp with Mvubu weaving in and around his muscular lines as Mthembu shouts and chants. Mthembu and Makhene this spellbinding groove, which fades into the relative calm of "You've Been Called,' where Mthembu recites the lyrics about being sent by history and recitation of the crimes committed by colonialism. time seems suspended with Makheme's use of small percussive instruments providing a background before a piano brings the full group in with the two saxophonists playfully dueting as Mthembu sings, "You are here on history's call."

There is much for the listener to take in on what might be described as a spiritual journey. Despite being a meditation on human extinction, listening to "Go My Heart, Go To Heaven," one can't help but fill stirred and have some hopes from ashes of the present the brighter future might come about. There is the jubilant percussion along with Hutchings' woody clarinet and Mvubu's alto sax on "Run the Darkness Will Pass." There are also moments of free jazz, such as the beginning of "Beasts Too Spoke of Suffering," that evokes the ecstasy of Albert and Donald Ayler. Mandla Mlangeni's fiery trumpet makes a deep impression here.

The rest of "We Are Sent Here By History" is equally enthralling. Shabaka and the Ancestors play with passion and personality, resulting in one of the most compelling musical statements of the year.

I received a download to review from a publicist. Here is a video for "Go My Heart, Go To Heaven."