Shabaka and The Ancestors Tickets

The essentials

Quick Facts About Shabaka and The Ancestors

• Biography and career highlights: Shabaka Hutchings fronts Shabaka and the Ancestors, following stints with Sons of Kemet and The Comet Is Coming; the Ancestors’ debut Wisdom of Elders (2016) and the follow-up We Are Sent Here by History (2020) established their pan-African, spiritual jazz identity. Hutchings has won MOBO Jazz Act of the Year (2013), the Paul Hamlyn Composer Award (2014), Jazz FM Instrumentalist of the Year (2015), and has Mercury Prize nominations (2016, 2018).
• Genre and musical style: The ensemble blends Afro-Caribbean influences, South African township jazz, griot storytelling, and spiritual jazz, often described within the broader Afro-diasporic creative-jazz continuum.
• Complete discography (albums, most recent first): 1) We Are Sent Here by History (2020, Impulse!); 2) Wisdom of Elders (2016, Brownswood).
• Top singles/hits: There are no widely released charting singles credited to Shabaka and the Ancestors; most notable impact comes from album releases and live performances. The 2020 album charted on Billboard’s US Top Contemporary Jazz Albums (peak #10) and US Top Tastemaker Albums (peak #23), plus UK Jazz & Blues Albums chart (peak #3).
• Major awards and achievements: MOBO Jazz Act of the Year (2013), Paul Hamlyn Composer Award (2014), Jazz FM Instrumentalist of the Year (2015), Mercury Prize nomination (2016, for the Ancestors’ work), Jazz FM UK Jazz Act of the Year (2017), Jazz FM Jazz Innovation of the Year (2018).
• Social media presence: Official site and social channels are listed on shabakahutchings.com (links to Facebook, Instagram, and X are provided on the artist’s site).