SONS OF KEMET – In Memory of Samir Awad
aaamusic | On 27, Aug 2015
The fiery and exhilarating British jazz band Sons of Kemet merges jazz, rock, Afro beat and Caribbean folk. They won ‘Best Jazz Act’ at the 2013 MOBO Awards and their bold and creative debut album Burn was nominated for Gilles Peterson’s Album of the Year.
The eloquent quartet comprising Shabaka Hutchings (sax & clarinet), Theon Cross (tuba), Seb Rochford (drums) and Tom Skinner (drums) has an established reputation for fierce and funky improvisation and their new album Lest We Forget What We Came Here To Do is released on 25th September,2015 on Naim Jazz Records.
The album’s tense and energetic opening track ‘In Memory Of Samir Awad’ is hypnotic and unsettling. It was written to commemorate a Palestinian teenager killed by Israeli forces as he fled their gunfire in 2013. “We’re trying to immortalise an everyday youth, and an occurrence that is every day in that region of the world, and to say that it is significant”, said Shabaka Hutchings.“I wanted an intensity that continued throughout the piece. It’s a taut existence, and the low notes symbolise the bombings or eruptions in “normal” life under occupation”.
Followers of the intense and intriguing Sons Of Kemet will probably love this euphoric trance like opener. It’s sensual, danceable and has a soulful, restless rhythm that will move fans before returning them to earth.
Sons of Kemet play Rich Mix on Nov 13th, 2015 as part of the London Jazz Festival.
