Abdullah IBRAHIM - Soweto 1978

Abdullah IBRAHIM - Soweto 1978

Jazz

This obscure and long-out-of-print Chiaroscuro LP does not have any recording date listed, but it was recorded in Europe in 1965.
Pianist Dollar Brand (aka Abdullah Ibrahim) is heard leading two groups comprised mostly of fellow expatriate South Africans — a quartet with tenor saxophonist Basil Mannenberg and a septet. The three originals ("Soweto," "African Herbs" and "Sathima") are very much in Ibrahim's mature style, full of rich melodies, expert use of repetition and percussive piano. On "African Herbs," he doubles effectively on soprano and electric piano.
By Scott Yanow. AMG.
**
In his online All Music Guide review, Scott Yanow refers to African Herbs by an alternate title, Soweto, and shows it as released in 1965 on Chiaroscuro. In fact, Chiaroscuro's first album, featuring Earl "Fatha" Hines, didn't appear till 1971, and African Herbs, according to Joe Thloloe's brief liner notes, was "the product of two sessions: the February 1975 session in Cape Town, which produced the title song, and the Johannesburg one last June [presumably also 1975], which gave us [the other two tracks, also by Brand] 'Satihima' and 'Soweto'." In a phone conversation, Yanow acknowledged that he might have received erroneous information from a European source, but in any case Soweto was in fact released as a now out-of-print LP, Chiaroscuro 2012.

The title cut ("African Herbs", that is) is once again redolent with mbaqanga sweetness, ramified by Basil "Mannenberg" Coetzee's happy but sometimes slightly off-tone tenor. Thloloe states that "Dollar Brand plays electric piano for the first time on a record on the title tune," a perhaps dubious claim, and notes that the leader doubles on soprano sax. Tholoe goes on to illuminate the composition's background: "Some years back we enjoyed watching solo trotters, singing along to the accompaniment of their concertinas. Township kids would be right there behind them. 'African Herbs' takes one back to those days. . . you get the two sides of Dollar fused into one: the slow, thoughtful left, almost carpet texture, and the right ululating to fill the gaps left by Coetzee."

"Sathima" suggests another link to America, conscious or circumstantial, this time to the spiritual quests of tenor Pharoah Sanders, whom Coetzee seems to echo here. Sipho Gumede's bass lopes evocatively, supported by Peter Morake's insistent drumming, on this tune titled for the Muslim name of Brand's singer wife, born Bea Benjamin. "Soweto Is Where It's At" is one of the best of Brand's ensemble outings, handsomely constructed and arranged. He introduces the carefree mbaqanga theme on electric piano, then passes it to the tightly teamed horns, Coetzee on tenor, Duku Makasi on alto, and Dennis Mpale on trumpet. Brand trades passages artfully with the horns and Gumede's bass, and tenor and trumpet solo brightly and brilliantly, the latter reminiscent of the sound of Hugh Masekela, Brand's former Epistle. The piece ends gloriously with an extended coda, engaging the listener in waves of brass, resolving to the composer's solo piano.
**
Bass- Basil Moses (tracks: B1) , Sipho Gumede (tracks: A1, B2)
Drums- Gilbert Mathews (tracks: B1) , Peter Morake (tracks: A1, B2)
Piano, Electric Piano, Saxophone- Abdullah IBRAHIM (Dollar Brand)
Saxophone- Barney Rachabane (tracks: A1, B2) , Basil Coetzee , Duku Makasi (tracks: A1, B2)
Trumpet- Dennis Mpale (tracks: A1, B2)
**
A1 Soweto   17:40
B1 African Herbs   10:15
B2 Sathima   11:22
**
NoPassword
*
DLink
*