With Afrikan Culture to be released in a fortnight saxophonist Shabaka Hutchings is to release an album under his own name simply as Shabaka for his band Sons of Kemet's label Impulse. An 8-track digital-only EP is due on 20 May with 'Black Meditation' streaming ahead of release. Hutchings says: “Afrikan Culture was made around the idea of meditation and what it means for me to still my own mind and accept the music which comes to the surface. It features various types of Shakuhachi flutes and a new technique of creating that I’ve been experimenting with in layering many flutes together to create a forest of sound where melodies and rhythms float in space and emerge in glimpses.” Instrumentation on the album includes shakuhachi, kora and mbira. Last year Hutchings also set up his own label Native Rebel signing artists such as Chelsea Carmichael. He's probably the biggest sax star in terms of international recognition on the UK scene since the emergence of Courtney Pine in the 1980s.