Shabaka Hutchings isn’t making music for anyone but himself.
Shabaka is a bandleader, multi-instrumentalist, and producer reshaping global perceptions of jazz and experimental music and uses his reed to connect his body to his instrument.
Shabaka’s Reed:
Reserve Classic Clarinet 2.5
Shabaka says, “The reed is the first interface. The reed is the thing that connects your instrument to your body—if that's messed up, that changes the whole thing.”
“There's something quite special in seeing an idea from the beginning to the end in your personal point of view. Everyone has a subjective point of view because we all have our specific histories and our specific musical aptitudes. And I think that's to be celebrated.”
About Shabaka Hutchings
Shabaka Hutchings is one of the UK's most influential musicians and a defining figure in contemporary British culture. A bandleader, multi-instrumentalist, and producer, he has reshaped global perceptions of jazz through a practice that moves fluidly between jazz, electronic, spiritual, and diasporic traditions. His 2026 album Of The Earth — written, performed, produced, and mixed entirely by Shabaka — marks a pivotal evolution, uniting the dance-driven energy of Sons of Kemet and The Comet Is Coming with the breath-led language of his recent solo work. Created largely while travelling on portable instruments, it pairs looping rhythmic structures with expansive choral melodies played primarily on alto flute and saxophone. Years of flute study across Japanese, American, and other traditions transformed his sense of resonance and phrasing, and the album marks the first time he incorporates his own voice, using rap as an extension of rhythm and breath. His music is driven by motion — physical, historical, and diasporic.
