"It would take the second comings of John Coltrane, Charles Mingus, Horace Silver and Lee Morgan to threaten to dislodge it" - All About Jazz says reviewing the London drummer's debut album. Tom Skinner is the co-founder of Sons of Kemet, and the Smile, whereas on 'Voices...' he is accompanied by bassist Tom Herbert of the influential Polar Bear and Acoustic Ladyland, tenor saxophonists Shabaka Hutchings of SOK and The Comet Is Coming, as well as Nubya Garcia and cellist Kareem Dayes. "As jazz supergroups go, this is the coyote's cojones", AAZ points out, calling the album "exalted jazz... by turns tumultuous... and meditative".

"The aim of artists is to put information out there, and when people are ready, they can come to it - and hopefully further themselves" - Sons of Kemet frontman Shabaka Hutchings says in Downbeat interview about their latest album 'Black to the Future' and sending messages with music. "If you have a surface-level understanding of racism or the legacy that we’re referring to, then if you encounter the music and suspect there is something deeper [with] the rhetoric around the album, and the message behind the album, it gives you clues and hints of ways to explore. For me, that’s the best thing, in that it gives people a way of going forward".

"Sons of Kemet have crafted a narrative that sees Black people freeing themselves from the constraints of oppression" - NME argues in favour of the fourth album by the London afro-jazz quartet (gave it 5 of 5 stars). The Skinny deems it best SOK album with "a thrillingly rich tapestry that combines passionate reflections on […]

“You can think of music as being a thing in itself that is just sonic, but I don't think it is. Music is part of a bigger scheme of what your world view is, and what your temperament is at any given time” - Sons of Kemet's leader Shabaka Hutchings says in the Quietus interview ahead of their new album 'Black to the Future'. The recording process was shaped with time in mind - "What we did is we recorded the drums, we played for ten, 15 minutes, before the tuba came in. I might play the melody many times. The idea is that kind of communality, where you want to get out of the individual anxiety of what specifically you're playing, so it can just become a group enterprise, and it can only become a group enterprise after we've been playing circularly for ages”.

Sons of Kemet share 'To Never Forget The Source', the "central (ideological) axis-point" of their new album 'Black To The Future'; Jhariah are genre-less, operatic, grandiose, and fun on 'Flight Of The Crows'; Kele shares a subtle piano ballad 'Nineveh'; The Felice Brothers go slightly bizarre yet sweet on 'Inferno'; Q-Unique of Arsonists combines rap and rock on grand soul-rap 'Verrazzano Villains' featuring the Wu-Tang Clan's Cappadonna and three members of Taking Back Sunday; duendita goes lightly to surprise with 'bio'; Black Midi display a change of direction with jazzy-rock 'Slow' (not that slow at all).

Sons Of Kemet share groovey 'Hustle' featuring Kojey Radical; Moist go pop-rawk on 'End of the Ocean'; Wavves share a seemingly feel-good song 'Sinking Feeling' about depression; bedroom pop meets hyperpop on Spill Tab's 'Pistolwhip'; Toronto poet Mustafa offers words of peace and hope on sad, sad 'Ali'; Rejjie Snow's 'Relax' says it all with the title.

"People think that history is finite, but it is something that needs to be explored constantly; it needs to be challenged and sometimes set alight, so we don’t continue to make the same mistakes... For there to be a change, there needs to be the end of what we want changed" - the great saxophone player Shabaka Hutchings told the Guardian ahead of the new album by Shabaka and His Ancestors 'We Are Sent Here by History (out March 13). But, he sees himself as an optimist - “I feel really positive about the future... Because there is always a fraught tension before things change – things really do have to get worse before they get better”.

Jazz is more serious than other genres - jazz requires exactly as much or as little expertise to listen to and appreciate as anything else

Jazz was born in New Orleans - it emerged almost simultaneously in a number of different communities

Jazz must swing - jazz artists are prone to experimenting with unusual time signatures

Jazz musicians were (or are) on drugs - early propaganda designed to paint black communities as dens of iniquity, and create reasons to arrest them

Jazz is dead - it’s integral to hip-hop and vibrant jazz scenes in Los Angeles, Chicago, London, Canada

Guardian writes how jazz is having a moment in the UK lately. The signs? Streaming sites are reporting a growth in young listeners, mainstream artists are collaborating with jazz stars and big music festivals are signing up more jazz acts than ever. The names deserving credit the most - Sons of Kemet and The Comet […]

1. Deafheaven: 'Ordinary Corrupt Human Love' 2. Sons Of Kemet: 'Your Queen Is a Reptile' 3. Møl: 'Jord' 4. Mitski: 'Be The Cowboy' 5. Earl Sweatshirt: 'Some Rap Songs' 6. NoName: 'Room 25' 7. Rivers of Nihil: 'Where Owls Know My Name' 8. Pusha T: 'Daytona' 9. Kendrick Lamar: 'Bad Kid Chill City' 10. Kids […]