Shabaka in Manchester

Shabaka is the solo name of British musician Shabaka Hutchings, a saxophonist, clarinettist and flautist born in London in 1984 and raised partly in Barbados. He is known for leading Sons of Kemet and Shabaka and the Ancestors, and for his work in The Comet Is Coming. The solo release Afrikan Culture and the album Perceive Its Beauty, Acknowledge Its Grace placed flutes and quieter, meditative jazz at the centre of his own music. In December 2023, Shabaka presented The Last Saxophone at London’s Institute of Contemporary Arts before stepping back from the instrument. The following year he brought music from Perceive Its Beauty, Acknowledge Its Grace to the concert stage, playing flutes and clarinets as part of an ensemble performance at Barbican Hall.