Label: Impulse! Records, 2020
Personnel - Shabaka Hutchings: tenor sax, clarinet; Siyabonga Mthembu: vocals; Mthunzi Mvubu: alto sax; Ariel Zamonsky: acoustic bass; Gontse Makhene: percussion; Tumi Mogorosi : drums; Nduduzo Makhathini: Fender Rhodes; Thandi Ntuli: piano; Mandla Mlangeni: trumpet.
On cusp of fame, saxophonist Shabaka Hutchings, who also leads Sons of Kemet and The Comet is Coming, brings us stimulating rhythmic chops and haunting sounds with this new hyper-creative work with the Ancestors. We Are Sent Here By History is the long-awaited follow up to Wisdom of Elders (Brownswood Recordings, 2016). This recording gets even more enticing in its African chants, eloquent whispers, alternative sounds, tribal pulses, and pithy saxophone phrases. Hutchings defined it as a meditation on topics such as our own extinction as a species, forever lost cultures, greedy capitalism and white supremacist hegemony.
The Afro-centric jazz practiced by the ensemble is as much rooted in tradition as it sounds contemporary, alternating phases of light and darkness over the course of 11 hypnotic tracks.
The band infuses high energy on numbers such as “They Who Must Die”, delivered with a confident attitude and liberated through agile drumming, propulsive bass lines, psychedelic Fender Rhodes passages and a saxophone on fire; “Behold, The Deceiver”, a powerful exertion with Coltrane evocations in a forward-thrusting 6/8 time; and “The Coming of the Strange Ones”, a trippy and ecstatic ride where Shabaka’s reed provides the spark. However, it’s the collective’s rhythmic flair that keeps the flame burning.
“You’ve Been Called” has jazzy piano harmonies and well-sculpted sax riffs accompanying the always expressive vocals from Siyabonga Mthemba. An analogous situation is found on the extraordinary “Til’ The Freedom Comes Home”, in which bass, saxophone and effective multi-vocal lines produce a diligent, wonderfully synchronized Rastafari work song. Exerting the color and shading of The Ancestors singular world, these pieces are, by turns, mystic, aggressive, spiritual, and grim.
Still sonically feverish, “Go Heart, Go to Heaven” feels more melodic, bouncing as a celebratory distillation of jazz and African tradition. This tune is based on a South African church song, which happens to be the favorite of Siyabonga’s father.
Brimming with stunning musical freedom and delivered in 3/4 time, “We Will Work (On Redefining Manhood)” addresses toxic masculinity through a poem in Zulu and features a dynamic flute that resembles Pharaoh Sanders. In turn, “Run, The Darkness Will Pass” is a slick, luxurious, danceable nu jazz exercise with horns and vocals in counterpoint and a deep bass pattern flooding the road.
With a singular cross-disciplinary taste in the approach, this group thrives with such a great force, and another proof of this is “Beasts Too Spoke of Suffering”, where Shabaka’s groaning cries fall over a busy rhythmic tapestry. This sonic account is pure fascination and, consequently, a must-have.
Grade A
Favorite Tracks:
01 - They Who Must Die ► 04 - Behold, The Deceiver 06 - ► 09 - Til The Freedom Comes Home