Tag: South Africa

Thandi Ntuli with Carlos Niño – Rainbow Revisited

This is my first opportunity to hear the voice of Thandi Ntuli, an amazing jazz singer out of South Africa.  She collaborates on this album with one of Los Angeles’ leading lights, the inestimable Carlos Niño.  The album will appeal to those who have been immersing themselves in spiritual jazz.  A keeper.

Mahotella Queens – Abaculi Bethu / Umculo Kawupheli

Today’s share is a joyful slice of township jive out of South Africa from the legendary Mahotella Queens.  It’s a tragedy that it took a cretinous thief like Malcolm McLaren to turn the world on to such music.  From the Umsakazo Records Bandcamp site: “The reach and influence of “Umculo Kawupheli” spread far beyond its […]

Chris McGregor – In His Good Time

London served as the home of many magnificent South African musicians, and it is safe to say that pianist Chris McGregor and his band, the Brotherhood of Breath, was the linchpin of the expat community.  This particular album was released in 1979 and originally reissued in 2012 with bonus material.  This is a shiny, well-remastered […]

The Four Sounds ‎– Jazz From District Six

Mad About Records has produced a South African jazz artifact that is finally getting the wider recognition it deserves.  The Four Sounds features bassist Basil Moses, who worked with such stellar local artists as Dollar Brand, and his brother Clifford, who croons on the songs Beautiful Katrina and The “Goema” Dance, which is in fact […]