Shabaka Hutchings

That American audiences rarely get to experience the full extent of jazz talent from other countries is no secret, and nothing new. The door into the U.S. has never swung with the same ease as the one leading out. Consider the British scene of the past 60 years. For every George Shearing, John McLaughlin, and Jamie Cullum who established themselves in America with regular touring schedules and recordings, there were deserving players like Johnny Dankworth, Joe Harriott, and Django Bates who did not. A few succeeded by relocating here—Marian McPartland, Dave Holland—and some managed a Stateside presence for a few years but unfairly faded, like Tubby Hayes in the ’60s and two other saxophonists, Courtney Pine and Soweto Kinch, in the ’90s and ’00s.

This fact is not lost on Shabaka Hutchings, whose career continues to defy the historical odds, even as he faces the challenges peculiar to 2020. “I can see it’s a matter of, ‘Can you keep coming?’ and if there’s a way of being able to front the cost for the visa,” he says, “because it’s a lot more expensive for us to come over to the U.S. than it is the other way around.” Though born in London in 1984, Hutchings grew up in Barbados from the age of six, and returned to live in Birmingham as a teenager. The now London-based saxophonist clearly has the energy needed to keep plugging away, along with a profound sense of purpose. One can intuit that from the number of recordings he’s released (eight albums in the past seven years!) by the three ensembles he currently (echoing the bold declarations of Ornette Coleman’s initial releases). One can hear his commitment in the urgency and topicality of the music itself, which has earned him a berth as a banner artist on the revived Impulse! imprint.