Shabaka Hutchings Possession (Impulse!)

Shabaka Hutchings

(Impulse!)

By Frank Alkyer  |   Published January 2025

Shabaka (a.k.a. Shabaka Hutchings) continues his exploration of flutes and his atmospheric soul music with the release of Possession. The EP serves as an extension of his February 2024 release Perceive The Beauty, Acknowledge Its Grace, which gave Shabaka the grace to step away from the saxophone and delve into the flute, driving his music into a very new, very soulful direction. “Timepieces,” the opening track, offers a beautifully lush bed of flute and rhythm instruments for rapper Billy Martin to flow over. It’s an incredibly satisfying confessional built by sampling Shabaka’s tune “End Of Innocence” from Perceive The Beauty. That flow continues with the work of rapper E L U C I D on “I’ve Been Listening,” offering a thoughtful, unrushed sermon accompanied by some lovely harp work (Brandee Younger and Charles Overton both participate in this project). The guests keep coming with the third tune, featuring another artist who’s recently begun to focus on the flute. Shabaka and André 3000 swirl in and through each other on “To The Moon,” a great tune to wake up to each morning if you need that celestial vibe to get your day rolling. Esperanza Spalding joins in on “Cycles Of Growth,” with some earthy vocals and a melody that harkens back to Mother Africa. Continuing that theme, Shabaka invites South African pianist Nduduzo Makhathini to join in for the program’s final tune, “Reaching Back Towards Eternity,” a simple, lush lullaby for a broken world. What’s most lovely about this entire work is the idea that the music, even with guests, is not gimmicky. It feels like community. It’s not driven by trading fours, changing time signatures or blowing each other away. You can feel these artists listening to each other and responding in kind. When the pieces end, you want more. Shabaka’s voice is different on the flute. It’s important. And it’s needed right now.

from https://downbeat.com