Sons of Kemet
Your Queen Is A Reptile

Can a record still be “political”? That is, is it still possible to convey a clear political message while simultaneously producing music consistent with theoretical premises?

Listening to the music produced by Shabaka Hutchings, a 34-year-old London saxophonist with deep personal historical ties to Barbados, a former British colony, one would definitely say yes. He is indeed the soul and mind behind the Sons Of Kemet, a London jazz group with an atypical formation (double drums/percussion, tuba, and saxophone) and many other groups of the new British jazz scene (besides Sons Of Kemet, Hutchings is behind The Comet Is Coming, The Ancestors, and collaborates with Heliocentrics and Polar Bear). His is a strong and direct message against English colonial policy, particularly in the Caribbean, from where Hutchings' family originated and where he moved and lived from the age of 6 until adolescence, returning home with a conservatory certificate in clarinet. As well as with an expanded cultural background and a notable grudge against British colonialism.

From all this emerges the futuristic-political concept behind “Your Queen Is A Reptile”, where the Queen is equated to an evil alien being worshipped by mindless subjects who have supported her hegemonic goals globally. And so to the Alien Queen, Hutchings contrasts the queens he adores, each to entitle the tracks that compose “Your Queen Is a Reptile”.

It begins with Ada Eastman, Shabaka's grandmother, honored with a track with spirited Caribbean rhythms, interspersed with a vocal style halfway between hip hop, Reggaeton, and something tribally Voodoo. It proceeds with a dub jazz sung by what could be a Rasta toaster from Kingston’s suburbs and dedicated to psychologist Mamie Phipps Clark. These may be the two tracks that deviate somewhat from the strictly jazz path, but it cannot be said that the rest of the album (and the black and proud women honored) is of inferior quality, quite the opposite.

Activist Harriet Tubman rides a syncopated and schizoid jazz led by a long solo that practically lasts the entire piece. The legendary Angela Davis proceeds slyly and groovy, on a tuba backdrop with extremely low decibels. Nanny, Queen of the Maroons, an important figure for Jamaican independence, lies on relaxed African rhythms, a mood shared with the beautiful track dedicated to Anna Julia Cooper, a black sociologist and educator. More Africa, Ethiopian side in the track dedicated to the queen of the Ashanti people Yaa Asantewaa.

And finally, the track that stands out according to me above all, the tribute to Albertina Sisulu, the activist wife of South African political prisoner Walter Sisulu, something that makes you want to dance in the streets, all together: black, white, yellow, green, and blue. The mythical Impulse Records certifies both the quality of the music and the political approach. Already among the best things heard this year.