Shabaka Hutchings’ two and a half years away from the saxophone have proved fruitful, his beatific album of (predominantly) flute music – Perceive Its Beauty, Acknowledge Its Grace – emerging in April 2024 to almost universal acclaim. Perhaps too much acclaim, fretted those who despaired of ever hearing him attack the tenor sax again. Yet here he is, back on sax – a move proclaimed loudly by Of the Earth’s attendant press release. And indeed, sax is the central voice on the new album’s impressionistic opener A Future Untold, lyrical over nuages of tinkling bells. After that, Hutchings’ iconic axe is less dominant – obliged to fit into a complex choral network of flutes and electronic percussion, all played, programmed, recorded and mixed by…

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