Bleep

Far from the breakneck paced saxophone playing in his bands The Comet Is Coming and Sons Of Kemet, Shabaka’s debut solo outing is a tribute to wood, wind, and breath reflecting “the process of [his] own personal meditation”. Afrikan Culture layers swooping clouds of shakuhachi and flute over deeply intoning clarinets matched by earthy vocals, with chimes and plucks of mbira, harp, and kora like drops in rippling water between them. Soaring yet contemplative arrangements showcase Shabaka’s control and poise over his many instruments, and his varied emotional evocations: melismatic deliveries climbing and crooning, misty, fluttering, and fluid.