Your Queen Is a Reptile signals the arrival of Caribbean-born, London-based saxophonist/clarinetist
Shabaka Hutchings'
Sons of Kemet on
Impulse! The band's unusual lineup -- saxophone/clarinet, tuba, and two or three drummers -- fits with the historic label's revolutionary tradition forged by
John and
Alice Coltrane,
Pharoah Sanders, etc.
Hutchings is no mere descendent of his heroes, however. He's amassed dozens of musical credits (including work with
Mulatu Astatke and
Yusef Kamaal) and leads three different bands:
Sons of Kemet,
Shabaka and the Ancestors, and the electro space-jazz outfit
Comet Is Coming.
This is
Sons of Kemet's third album. Its title refers to the white patriarchy as made manifest in royal and political matriarchies (the queen and Theresa May), and their unrepentant racism toward immigrants. The nine tracks pay homage to iconic Black women from Angela Davis and Harriet Tubman to social psychologist Mamie Phipps Clarke and
Hutchings' own great-grandmother, Ada Eastman. Despite the charged nature of the concept, these sounds are not easily categorized as "angry." In fact, if one knew nothing about the motivation here, they would swear the music reflects only Black celebration and joy. Herein lies the terrain where the carnival tradition of the Caribbean stretches west and north simultaneously to New Orleans' marching bands and South London's adventurous, well-integrated contemporary music scene; it's where modern avant-jazz meets funk, folk tradition, grime (thanks to two raps by poet
Joshua Idehen), and reggae (courtesy of toaster
Congo Natty). "My Queen Is Ada Eastman" opens with rolling double-drum kits (
Tom Skinner and
Seb Rochford -- the latter alternates with or complements
Eddie Hick and
Moses Boyd) -- while
Theon Cross' tuba establishes a hypnotic bassline and
Hutchings weaves a labyrinthine, almost snaky melody. They dig deep into reggae with "My Queen Is Mamie Phipps Clarke," as
Natty delivers a Rasta poem with
Hutchings' tenor winding around him amid stretched-out dub effects. "My Queen Is Angela Davis" equates, knotty, martial, yet funky rhythms as
Cross and
Hutchings exchange a contrapuntal lyric line that touches on carnival music and Arabic double-harmonic scales. While "My Queen Is Nanny of the Maroons," titled for the famed Jamaican anti-colonialist, uses a hypnotic Nyabinghi rhythm, the tuba lays down a rocksteady bassline and
Hutchings breathes out a gentle modal ballad.
Nubya Garcia adds a second saxophone to "My Queen Is Yaa Asantewaa" amid incantatory Ghanaian-style drumming and a declarative tuba. On "My Queen Is Albertina Sisulu," the drumming and stretched harmony delineate where South African township jive meets avant-jazz (and traces a direct line from
Brotherhood of Breath). Hip-hop, funk, and
Fela all meet in closer "My Queen Is Doreen Lawrence" (titled for the British Jamaican campaigner), with punchy tenor lines, roiling snares, and kick drums with bleating below-the-floor bass notes.
Your Queen Is a Reptile is easily
Sons of Kemet's most compelling outing. It offers inspired stylistic contrasts, canny improvisation, and killer charts. It's tight, furious, joyous, and inspirational. ~ Thom Jurek
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