Shabaka and the Ancestors to ignite South African stages

Following the release of their critically acclaimed LP Wisdom of Elders, Shabaka and the Ancestors have hit the road to perform at venues around South Africa as part of their Wisdom of the Elders tour.

In 2016, London-based saxophonist and bandleader Shabaka Hutchings joined forces with local musicians Siyabonga Mthembu, Tumi Mogorosi, Gontse Makhene, Mthunzi Mvubu and Ariel Zamonsky to produce and record the LP, which was performed with resounding success at Le Poisson Rouge in New York City in December 2016.

The band returned to South Africa in January and released local tour dates that will see them travel to Johannesburg, Durban and Cape Town.

Hutshings has been a regular fixture at international shows performed by South African bands and has been part of Tumi Mogorosi's Project Elo, has featured with TBMO in SA and in Europe and played with the likes of BCUC.

Lead vocalist Siyabonga Mthembu of The Brother Moves On fame recalls how the collaboration between the different artists came about: “After three years of back and forth he wanted to do an album with friends within these collaborations whom he admired. So one day he called all of us up and asked if we'd feature on a show and recording with him. A year later we in the New York Times on our 4th gig together.”

With different performance schedules that usually span a number of a different cities worldwide, it is often a challenge to have this many esteemed musicians in one space to record an album but the band managed to get together and produce what many critics call a “masterpiece”.

“Shabaka has this amazing critique of how due to high recording costs our recordings as SA artists seem uptight. This was such an easy recording process,” says Mthembu. “We got sent music, we rehearsed once, we played one gig together and then recorded an album. It was free and impromptu and you can hear it on the album. Of all the recordings I've been a part of this is the one I am the proudest of.”

It is often a rare feat for musicians to achieve the sound and recording in one day but Shabaka and the Ancestors did it with unquestionable success. They managed to capture the feeling of their live show with the improvised characteristics we’ve come to expect from jazz music.

“To tell you the truth we don't rehearse much and it helps our performance a lot as we feel like we still got something to prove to each other. So we didn't rehearse for New York. We arrived had a chat about what we'd like to do and just did it,” he said.

Local audiences have the opportunity to catch the act live at three venues starting from 2 February at The Orbit in Johannesburg, then Wits Music Auditorium on 3 February, Dube Lifestyle Village (Soweto) before they head to Durban to perform at The Rainbow.

They are also set to take their live show to different countries on the following 2017 dates:

20 March, Zurich, Switzerland
21 March, Nantes, France (Tickets)
22 March, Brest, France (Tickets)
23 March, Vaulx-en-Velin, France (Tickets)
25 March, Annonay, France (Tickets)
28 March, Paris, France (Tickets)
30 March, Sofia, Bulgaria (Tickets)
31 March, London, UK (Tickets)
1 April, Gdansk, German
2 April, Gateshead, UK (Tickets)
6 April, Saint Denis de la Reunion, France (Tickets)
8 April, Tivoli, Italy (Tickets)
9 April, Brussels, Brussels (Tickets)

Mthembu said he and his band will be returning to New York in summer. “I'm really excited about my first summer in New York, my first visit to Canada, The Love Supreme Festival in the UK as I'm a big Contrane fan (who isn't) and getting back to the Reunion Island.”

Audiences can check out the local tour event here.