New Music: Hutchings Returns to Sax
Shabaka Hutchings (formerly of Sons of Kemet) returns to the saxophone on his new album “Of the Earth,” merging jazz with electronic beats [https://www.spin.com/2026/03/shabaka-picks-up-the-sax-and-drops-some-beats/]. Jonny Greenwood, Shye Ben Tzur, and the Rajasthan Express reunite for “Ranjha,” their first album together since 2015’s “Junun,” set for May 8 [https://pitchfork.com/news/jonny-greenwood-shye-ben-tzur-and-the-rajasthan-express-reunite-for-new-album/]. What inspired Hutchings to return to the saxophone?
Hutchings took an 18-month hiatus from the saxophone before recording "Of the Earth". He spent that time mastering the shakuhachi flute, which led to new techniques and breathing patterns that reignited his inspiration for the saxophone. In 2025, Hutchings played saxophone publicly for the first time in two years at a memorial concert for South African jazz drummer Louis Moholo. Hutchings' new album sees him rapping for the first time, inspired by André 3000's fearlessness. "Of The Earth" was written and produced by Hutchings, marking his first self-produced solo album. Before the pandemic, Hutchings only played clarinet and saxophone and knew nothing about music production. Sons of Kemet, the band Hutchings led, broke up in 2022 after 10 years together. The band, formed in 2011, released four studio albums. Members of the group pursued other projects, including Hutchings forming The Comet Is Coming and Skinner joining The Smile. "Ranjha," the new album from Jonny Greenwood, Shye Ben Tzur, and the Rajasthan Express, is a follow-up to their 2015 album, "Junun". "Junun" was recorded in a makeshift studio within a 15th-century fort in Rajasthan, India, while "Ranjha" was recorded in Greenwood's studio in Oxford, England. A documentary by Paul Thomas Anderson chronicled the making of "Junun". Shye Ben Tzur, an Israeli New Yorker, dedicated himself to Qawwali music after hearing it for the first time in the late 90s. Greenwood said that with Ben Tzur's songs, he felt like he could easily ruin them by imposing western chords. He also noted that he is used to songs about alienation, but not spiritual things. "Ranjha" features 21 credited musicians and singers.
