Acclaimed saxophonist, philosopher, bandleader, and musician Shabaka Hutchings, now professionally known as Shabaka across all solo musical efforts, announces his first major label solo body of work, Afrikan Culture. Entirely written by Shabaka the eight-track album showcases him on various wind instruments and focuses on the aural meditative space. Produced by Shabaka and frequent collaborator Dilip Harris, Afrikan Culture takes you on a sonically healing journey. Immersed in a sea of sound, diverse instruments that include the Shakuhachi (a Japanese end-blown flute), a Kora (a stringed instrument used extensively in West Africa), a Mbira (a “thumb piano” from Africa), and a music box envelopes the listener in a soothing sound that lingers on well past the last played note.
Note from Shabaka: Afrikan Culture was made around the idea of meditation and what it means for me to still my own mind and accept the music which comes to the surface. It features various types of Shakuhachi flutes which I’ve been learning for the past few years and using as a daily breath awareness practice. It also features a new technique of creating that I’ve been experimenting with in layering many flutes together to create a forest of sound where melodies and rhythms float in space and emerge in glimpses.
