Sons of Kemet Play Koko in London

Kitty Empire gives Sons of Kemet’s recent performance at Koko in London—which she says should have been a victory lap for the Mercury Prize that they did not win—four stars and a sharp rave review in The Guardian. “Although their music is acutely historically conscious, making people leap like salmon is an equally meaningful part of this band’s raison d’être: this is jazz as party music, not an excuse to make chin leather,” she writes. Empire then explores the way Sons of Kemet reinterpret the past and reimagine the future on their records and on stage. Give it a read.