Jazz breaking news: Sons Of Kemet win Best Jazz Act MOBO Award
Monday, October 21, 2013
Sons of Kemet, the hotly tipped group led by saxophonist Shabaka Hutchings, won the Best Jazz Act at the 18th annual MOBO Awards held at the SSE Hydro Arena, Glasgow on 19 October.
Their MOBO Award win comes hot on the heels of the group’s highly acclaimed debut album Burn, released on the Naim Label in September. Classically trained clarinet and tenor sax virtuoso and composer Shabaka Hutchings formed SOK with Oren Marshall on tuba and the double-headed drum attack of Tom Skinner and Seb Rochford, producing a propulsive and diverse take on jazz. Rising from a fusion of cultures, SOK create an explosion of tuba-fuelled African, New Orleans and Caribbean grooves tweaked with loops and samples.
Featured on the cover of September issue of Jazzwise, SOK have received rave reviews for their live performances and their rhythmically-charged mix of dub, jazz and avant garde sounds. They are set to perform their biggest UK gig so far when they open for Brad Mehldau and Mark Guiliana’s Mehliana at the Barbican on 21 November as part of the EFG London Jazz Festival.
– Nazrin Wilkinson
For more info on Sons Of Kemet at the Barbican go to www.barbican.org.uk/music