Knife Knights is essentially a project by two wonderful musical minds, that of Ishmael Butler and Erik Blood. The two first met in 2003—but in 2009, Blood produced and mixed the two debut EPs by Shabazz Palaces (a duo made up of Butler and Tendai Maraire). In 2017, Blood and Butler finally came together in Knife Knights, which is less a cultural/music project like Shabazz Palaces and more of an exploration of sound itself, like Explosions in the Sky. With Knife Knights, one gets lost in the infinities of processed and reprocessed music. At this Earshot Jazz Festival concert, they will perform with support from NYC alto sax player and composer Darius Jones and Seattle’s own future soul artist Stas Thee Boss. by Charles Mudede