David Toop, in his pan of New Blue Sun, does hold out some praise for one of the reeds players, Shabaka Hutchings
and notes: "Hutchings has recently released two records that are exemplary in their cohesion and groundedness: Perceive Its Beauty, Acknowledge Its Grace (2024), and Afrikan Culture (2022). Listen, for example, to “Black Meditation,” the lead track from the latter, on which multiple flutes weave in vibrant plant life under a somber, beautifully executed clarinet melody. All is settled in its place, fibrous, pliant, strong, and yet its fluency suggests multitudinous directions, abrasive, disturbing, tender, and devotional. It performs those qualities in which music excels, combining materiality, evanescence, and temporality to address human complexity on many levels simultaneously."