Shabaka and the Ancestor are led by Shabaka Hutchings, an internationally successful saxophonist and composer, who was also part of The Heliocentrics and The Sun Ra Arkestra. His style combines spiritual jazz with the influences of African and South American traditional music. With the 2016 debut album Wisdom of Elders on Gilles Peterson's label Brownswood Recordings, the band has created an eternal jazz monument to South Africa's cultural heritage.