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Jazz For the World's End: Meet The Comet Is Coming, on The Checkout

The Comet Is Coming

One of The Checkout's surprise favorite recordings from last year was Channel The Spirits, by the British electro-jazz trio known as The Comet Is Coming.

Shabaka Hutchings is the band's saxophonist and most familiar name. He told The Checkout that there was clear intention behind the apocalyptic undertones here — not just in the ominous band name, but also in some of the language around its music. (A few months ago The Comet is Coming released an EP unsubtly titled Death to the Planet; the opening track is "https://youtu.be/g7Px2wK10jg">Start Running.")

"In some ways it signals the fact that we are transient in this lifetime," Hutchings said, adding:

We can’t assume that the world is going to go on indefinitely. There seems to be a finite point at the moment in time that we’re in, whereby the world will end, so what’s your mentality as an artist, considering this? When you’re faced with the fact of a natural oblivion, there’s no time for considering, there’s no time for trying to build up the canon in the way that it was before. You just do what you want. You do what you feel.

In this installment of The Checkout, we'll hear more words, and some music, from Hutchings and the other members of The Comet is Coming: Danalogue the Conquerer, who plays synths, and Betamax Killer, a drummer. 

Hutchings keeps a busy profile on the London jazz scene, and The Comet is Coming represents just one of his outlets. This weekend he'll appear on the Afropunk After Dark series, on a bill presented by Jazz re:freshed and British Underground. The showcase, which also features Moses Boyd Exodus and Native Dancer, will take place on Saturday at Baby's All Right in Brooklyn, and next Monday at the original Nublu in the East Village. 

For more information about the Afropunk Fest Brooklyn, visit the official website.

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For more than 15 years, Simon Rentner has worked as a host, producer, broadcaster, web journalist, and music presenter in New York City. His career gives him the opportunity to cover a wide spectrum of topics including, history, culture, and, most importantly, his true passion of music from faraway places such as Europe, South America, and Africa.
A veteran jazz critic and award-winning author, and a regular contributor to NPR Music.