CANCELLED: Shabaka and the Ancestors

From the collaborative space-jazz formation The Comet is Coming to his own quartet Sons of Kemet – tenor saxophonist Shabaka Hutchings has enjoyed a meteoric rise in London’s jazz scene since the mid-2010s. His sometimes highly meditative, sometimes harsh tone has become his sonic signature. Together with the South African musicians headed by Mandla Mlangeni, he – under the name Shabaka and the Ancestors – explores the possibilities of one shared musical language before a variety of different cultural backgrounds. In 2016, the experimental big band released their debut »Wisdom of Elders«. Recorded in a single day, the album blends the sound of South African Nguni, jazz, blues, and spirituals with Central African song structures and Caribbean calypso.

At the »Elbjazz« festival the Hamburg harbour is the backdrop for a unique music event: since 2010 thousands of guests have been thrilled by one of the largest European jazz festivals where the unmistakable maritime flair of the Hanseatic city of Hamburg meets spectacular venues and musical diversity. The concerts and the colourful supporting programme of the festival take place at changing locations north and south of the Elbe river – and for the fourth time in a row at the Elbphilharmonie in 2020.