There’s a surprising richness of content packed into the lean, tight sound of Sons of Kemet, a key act in London, U.K.’s consequential jazz scene of the last decade. Concurrent dialogues converge here, one between Shabaka Hutching’s frantic yet focused reed riffs and the hefty tuba grooves of the mighty Theon Cross, the other the interplay between dual drummers Tom Skinner and Seb Rochford. The topics on the table are post-colonial in persuasion, allusions to African diasporic precedents and prospects, particularly Caribbean. It’s fierce and adamant music, expressed in the imperative, but with an undeniable optimism and confidence.
