In late 2023, there was widespread consternation in Hutchings-land: London saxophonist Shabaka Hutchings had put away his beloved sax. He did so in style at the Hackney Church in London, with a complete performance of A Love Supreme (1965), John Coltrane’s iconic masterpiece.

Noteworthy: he turned his back on Belgian Adolphe Sax‘s invention at the height of his popularity. In 2022 and 2023, he had sold out AB with his band Sons of Kemet and his flagship The Comet Is Coming, thrilling a total of 4,000(!) young music lovers.

What followed were the soothing (sax-less) albums Afrikan Culture (2022) and Perceive Its Beauty, Acknowledge Its Grace (2024), not coincidentally released on the iconic jazz label Impulse! Records that rightly received the nickname ‘The House That Trane Built’. After all, the label was of course home to Coltrane’s groundbreaking albums: A Love Supreme, Ascension, Crescent, Live at the Village Vanguard, … and more.

Enter 2026: Shabaka is back on the saxophone for his latest album Of The Earth, to be released independently via his brand new label Shabaka Records. Shabaka: “This record is my celebration of freedom in creative self-expression. Before the pandemic, I could only play the clarinet and saxophone and knew nothing about music production (or how to play the flute), so this has been a journey of learning and a reflection on the music that’s been created as a result.”

The Wire about Of The Earth: “The result is a genuinely experimental record, with more than a dash of cheerful craziness. … A burst onto fresh terrain.” Loud and Quiet: “It’s Shabaka’s most punk record yet.” Stereogum on the advance track Marwa The Mountain: “It reminds me of a more stripped-down Los Thuthanaka.”

Just like his greatest source of inspiration, John Coltrane, Shabaka never looks back: “You’ve gotta keep it moving with music, and that’s what typifies all the heroes of the music that I really respect”, he once confided to Jazzwise.

Lastly, a nice quote from De Standaard (about Sons Of Kemet at Pukkelpop in 2018) that perfectly captures Shabaka: “Praise the Lord for Shabaka Hutchings. This was bursting with life, this kicked shins, this was just as much punk as it was dance as it was jazz. John Coltrane was surely watching from above with a big grin.”