{"title":"Soweto Kinch","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eSoweto Kinch is a British jazz saxophonist, rapper, and composer. Born on January 10, 1978 in London, England, UK, Soweto has a strong jazz background and is largely self-trained. He drew inspiration from influential players like Courtney Pine and had a chance meeting with Wynton Marsalis as a young teenager. With his love and understanding of hip-hop, Soweto combines the two genres to create an incredible performance.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eIn 2003, Soweto's jazz album \"Conversations With The Unseen\" received critical acclaim and was even nominated for the prestigious Mercury Music Prize. He also showcased his talent on BBC Four TV as part of the \"Jazz Britannia\" series.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eExperience the unique blend of jazz and hip-hop from this talented artist who continues to push boundaries in music.\u003c\/p\u003e","products":[{"product_id":"white-juju","title":"White Juju","description":"\u003cp\u003eAbout the release\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eRecorded live at the Barbican during last year’s London Jazz Festival, \u003cem\u003eWhite Juju\u003c\/em\u003e is award-winning British saxophonist and rapper \u003cstrong\u003eSoweto Kinch\u003c\/strong\u003e’s powerful new work for jazz quartet and symphony orchestra, written in response to lockdown, BLM, British history, and the culture wars. The album melds Kinch’s distinct approach to jazz and hip hop with classical music—it draws broad inspiration from European folklore, the African Diaspora, and divisive national myths to create a uniquely contemporary tone poem.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eIn many ways, 2020 gave us all the opportunity to see our lives from a fresh perspective. From appreciating the natural world, to reassessing our work-life balance and de-cluttering our homes, the nation began an overwhelming cleanse. A summer of racialized police violence, the murder of Sarah Everard, and discussions around ‘essential’ workers meant the nation was beginning to draw causal links between racism, misogyny, class, and environmental degradation. This reassessment, contrasted starkly with government mismanagement, disinformation, and a noisy and disorientating culture war—all provided rich inspiration for Kinch’s work, \u003cem\u003eWhite Juju\u003c\/em\u003e.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eTowards the end of the first lockdown, Kinch visited Liverpool, Salford, Hull, and Cardiff with a small group of musicians and dancers, staging a socially distanced version of \u003cem\u003eThe Black Peril\u003c\/em\u003e as an online festival. As he walked the streets, then denuded of pedestrians, he was immediately struck by imperial emblems, flags, and statues in these British port cities—innumerable mock Elgin marbles, Queen Victoria statues, Union Jacks, and military monuments that, in the previous bustle of city life, went relatively unnoticed.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e“It fascinates me how we’re all acquainted with an unspoken architectural and symbolic language of power,” says Kinch. “How do these monuments or myths affect how we see ourselves as a nation? Naming the piece \u003cem\u003eWhite Juju\u003c\/em\u003e deliberately inverted ideas of the ‘savage’ or primitive. Perhaps the bizarre fetishes and obsessions of a cult religion are more visible in modern Britain than third world countries.”\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eA big facet of Kinch’s music is the presence of humor, and through \u003cem\u003eWhite Juju\u003c\/em\u003e he invites listeners to join him in poking fun at these hypocrisies as he confronts awkward truths about a nation, but also to feel the catharsis of being truly freed from a spell.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eFurther details\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe vinyl iteration of the album includes two colored vinyl discs, one red and one yellow. The striking cover artwork is by the Artist and Illustrator, Sophie Bass, who designed the cover of Soweto’s last album, \u003cem\u003eThe Black Peril\u003c\/em\u003e. The gatefold cover includes detailed notes from \u003cstrong\u003eSoweto Kinch\u003c\/strong\u003e about the work.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"LSO Live","offers":[{"title":"LP","offer_id":50490661273931,"sku":"2012551","price":29.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0867\/1120\/6219\/files\/White_Juju_Live_feat._Rick_Simpson_Nick_Jurd__Gregory_Hutchinson_2deec837_th.jpg?v=1727669748"}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0867\/1120\/6219\/collections\/test_646e4f70_thumbnail_4096_a8836ddd-d37c-465b-a883-5f0c0f446c9e.jpg?v=1727669728","url":"https:\/\/shop.roughtrade.com\/collections\/soweto-kinch.oembed","provider":"Rough Trade","version":"1.0","type":"link"}