Shabaka + Lara Aisha

Shabaka Hutchings is widely regarded as one of the UK’s most influential musicians and a defining figure in contemporary British culture. A bandleader, multi-instrumentalist, and producer, his work has reshaped global perceptions of jazz and experimental music through a practice that moves fluidly between jazz, electronic, spiritual, and diasporic traditions.

In his solo work, Shabaka’s music reflects a deepening focus on breath, embodiment, and personal authorship. His 2026 album Of The Earth, written, performed, produced, and mixed entirely by Shabaka, marks a pivotal moment in his artistic evolution. Where earlier projects explored collective improvisation and a withdrawal from familiar forms, this work represents integration – uniting rhythmic propulsion, textural depth, and melodic openness within a singular creative vision.

Drawing together the dance-driven energy associated with Sons of Kemet and The Comet Is Coming and the quieter, breath-led language of his recent solo explorations in Perceive It’s Beauty Acknowledge It’s Grace, his latest album, Of The Earth establishes Shabaka as a fully realised instrumentalist-producer. Created largely while travelling, the music is built from portable instruments and production tools, with looping rhythmic structures underpinning expansive choral melodies performed primarily on alto flute, alongside saxophone.

Shabaka’s practice has been profoundly shaped by years of flute study across traditions from Japan, the Americas, and beyond. This immersion transformed his understanding of resonance, phrasing, and melodic flow, and continues to inform his relationship with the saxophone, which he returned to with renewed clarity following an extended period away from the instrument. For the first time in his recorded output, Shabaka also incorporates his voice, using rap not as a stylistic departure but as another extension of rhythm, breath, and musical phrasing.

Far from being a static exercise, Shabaka’s latest album ‘Of The Earth’ live shows are inspired by hip-hop performances where the track booms through the system while the MC commands the stage. Playing both saxophone and flutes, Shabaka envisions a hybrid laboratory: stems dissected in real time, synthesizers and samplers manipulated onstage, improvisation layered over familiar frameworks. Often performing as a duo — with drummer/producer pairing shifting as the tour evolves — he aims for elasticity. No two nights alike. Landmarks within the set, yes, but freedom inside them.