Sons Of Kemet is a London outfit lead by tenor saxophonist and composer Shabaka Hutchings. On Your Queen Is A Reptile, Hutchings lays out a very fiery, progressive musical vision, and it is something as informed by reggae, the Carnival tradition, and underground UK culture (grime / dubstep) as by the greats of jazz, many of whom also released revered works on Impulse!: John Coltrane, Alice Coltrane, Pharoah Sanders, and Charles Mingus, to name some. Anchored by the dynamic rhythms of Tom Skinner, Seb Rochford, and Eddie Hick as well as grumbling basslines of tuba player Oren Marshall, the album remains upbeat throughout, and Huchings's exhilarating horn bursts/flows complete the vastly original compositions. Highlights include "My Queen Is Harriet Tubman," "My Queen Is Ada Eastman," and "My Queen Is Anna Julia Cooper," but Your Queen Is A Reptile should be enjoyed from beginning to end.

• gatefold sleeve
• includes download code
• music label: Impulse! 2018

reviewed by rei kwondo 04/2018