it's funny, going back to my AEOC I realize it's actually pretty difficult to pinpoint any aspect of their sound as being specifically African. There's obviously lots of attempts to *evoke* Africa what with the face paint and the percussion instrumentation and song titles and whatnot, but so much of their music is so abstract and open that I'm hard-pressed to point to anything they play that's based on actual African musical styles
so idk maybe I rescind that suggestion
― Οὖτις, Friday, 28 July 2017 15:45 (six years ago) link
This album is really good; I reviewed it for The Wire.
http://sunnysidezone.com/album/the-4-american-jazz-men-in-tangier
It's a two-disc set of recordings from 1959 by the Idrees Sulieman Quartet with Oscar Dennard on piano. The first disc was recorded in a radio station studio in Tangier; the second is a bootleg from a party at what is believed to be Quincy Jones' apartment.
― grawlix (unperson), Friday, 28 July 2017 16:15 (six years ago) link
Although my knowledge of it is not very deep, the BYG/Actuel scene seems ripe for this sort of harvest.
Grachan Moncur III's two albums for the label have been compiled onto one disc that is excellent.
Clifford Thornton's Ketchaoua is as unique as anything else he did.
And Sunny Murray's Hommage to Africa is closer to straight up free jazz, but worth a listen, I think.
Maybe someone else with more expertise in the label's output can help?
― he doesn't need to be racist about it though. (Austin), Friday, 28 July 2017 17:52 (six years ago) link
you are correct austin
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Live_at_the_Pan-African_Festival
― the late great, Friday, 28 July 2017 18:23 (six years ago) link
thx everyone for suggestions so far - finding tons of wonderful stuff here. it's been pretty warm recently and idk this music sounds especially good while i'm driving around sweating w/ my windows down.
― Mordy, Friday, 28 July 2017 19:43 (six years ago) link
People need to post more here! Here's a couple of finds recently (I haven't listened carefully to all of these yet):
Khan Jamal Creative Arts Ensemble - Drum Dance to the MotherlandKhan Jamal Quintet - Balafon Dance (only some tracks)Chico Freeman - Kings of MaliThe Ensemble Al-Salaam - The Sojourner
And there's also this mix of spiritual jazz, some of which is relevant: https://archive.org/details/BlackClassicalSpiritualJazz19552012
― Pataphysician, Wednesday, 2 August 2017 18:04 (six years ago) link
^^^possibly the greatest compilation ever imo
― Οὖτις, Wednesday, 2 August 2017 18:08 (six years ago) link
wow that looks great
― sleeve, Wednesday, 2 August 2017 18:10 (six years ago) link
I just discovered that there's a second volume! https://archive.org/details/Astrosonics-Doctrine-Spiritual-Jazz-Volume-2
It's unfortunately split up into separate files.
― Pataphysician, Wednesday, 2 August 2017 18:12 (six years ago) link
Oh, and with regard to the first volume, the tracklist is posted below in the comments without any time markers. Long ago, I recorded a few time markers for things I recognized (I'd likely recognize more now). But here's what I had, in case it helps to identify other stuff (key: "hour:minutes"):
Elvin Jones Love Supreme (~0:38-0:44 minutes in)Roy Brooks and the Artistic Truth Black Survival (~4:29)John Coltrane Om (4:51)Pharoah Sanders: Red, Black & Green (~6:12)John Coltrane: A Love Supreme, Pt. 1 Acknowledgment (6:34-6:35)Pharaoh Sanders Prince of Peace (8:58-9:05)
― Pataphysician, Wednesday, 2 August 2017 18:20 (six years ago) link
yeah over 24 hours of music, over half of which I can't identify since matching up the track listings provided is m/l impossible
but it's insanely great, I dip into it all the time
xp
― Οὖτις, Wednesday, 2 August 2017 18:22 (six years ago) link
I forgot to mention this blog that I discovered: http://adarkershadeofjazzinn.blogspot.ca/
It has that Khan Jamal Balafon Dance album.
― Pataphysician, Wednesday, 2 August 2017 18:24 (six years ago) link
Drummer Eric Harland is leading a really hot band for two nights at the Jazz Standard next week - Walter Smith III on tenor sax, Taylor Eigsti on piano, Harish Raghavan on bass. (Both Smith and Raghavan also play in Ambrose Akinmusire's band.) I'm hoping to catch one of their sets.
― grawlix (unperson), Wednesday, 2 August 2017 18:51 (six years ago) link
Oh, I should update about seeing Ambrose Akinmusire: fantastic! It was all stuff from the live album. The only weakness really is the piano player, which also struck me with the live album. He certainly fits well at times, but his soloing and accompaniment often didn't seem to gel or just seemed a little like he's fresh out of music school. Everyone else was great. Akinmusire is a really sensitive player, for lack of a better description.
― Pataphysician, Wednesday, 2 August 2017 18:58 (six years ago) link
ive enjoyed a lot of what i've heard from akinmusire
― marcos, Wednesday, 2 August 2017 19:11 (six years ago) link
Oh, I meant to post that in the Rolling Jazz thread, as it doesn't really fit in here!
― Pataphysician, Wednesday, 2 August 2017 19:13 (six years ago) link
Yeah, my post is also in the wrong thread.
― grawlix (unperson), Wednesday, 2 August 2017 19:49 (six years ago) link
good link regardless!
― sleeve, Thursday, 3 August 2017 00:27 (six years ago) link
I can't believe I didn't think of this one until just now, but Cannonball Adderley's Accent On Africa is perhaps a bit campy, but still totally great.
― he doesn't need to be racist about it though. (Austin), Sunday, 6 August 2017 15:55 (six years ago) link
Also, surely Sun Ra has something relevant to this.
― he doesn't need to be racist about it though. (Austin), Monday, 7 August 2017 02:44 (six years ago) link
hmmm
what is interesting about sun ra is the extent to which he is influenced by exotica and the esoteric societies of WWI era birmingham, i.e. a fake or imagined africa
― the late great, Monday, 7 August 2017 02:49 (six years ago) link
tbf there is a lot of stuff on this thread whose connection to africa is more thematic than musical
― the late great, Monday, 7 August 2017 02:52 (six years ago) link
for example: art ensemble, pharaoh sanders, khan jamal etc
i don't think erratic free jazz drumming on african drums is sufficient to establish afro jazz credentials
and i totally don't understand how coltrane fits into this, ditto sunny murray, cannonball, elvin, etc aside from song titles
i say this not to be some sort of gatekeeper for Afro jazz but just to point out that it means something specific (to me anyway) and applying it willy bully does a bit of a disservice to a group like oneness of juju or idris ackamoors pyramids who feature legit African rhythms and chants
― the late great, Monday, 7 August 2017 02:59 (six years ago) link
haha Willy bully should be Willy nilly
Louis Moholo and Dudu Pukwana are mentioned above, but the whole universe of music that came out of The Blue Notes and their coterie is amazing. The Blue Notes recordings themselves are basically mid-60s Afro bop, and they're great, but after they moved to England they all did so many different things: Brotherhood of Breath, Spear, Assagai, Harry Miller's Isipingo and the totally essential "Blue Notess for Mongezi." Just a remarkable constellation of players, exploring a wide range of stuff and bringing South African influences into all kinds of settings.
― a man often referred to in the news media as the Duke of Saxony (tipsy mothra), Monday, 7 August 2017 02:59 (six years ago) link
(I am no kind of Afro jazz specialist, but I got into Brotherhood of Breath some years back and started pulling on that string and it led to all of this other stuff I couldn't believe I'd never heard of.)
― a man often referred to in the news media as the Duke of Saxony (tipsy mothra), Monday, 7 August 2017 03:00 (six years ago) link
i guess i am just echoing shakey's point up thread about aeoc here but i felt like it should be made again
― the late great, Monday, 7 August 2017 03:01 (six years ago) link
I've never really quite thought of the category "Afro Jazz" before, so I've been questioning myself a lot when going through different material. And I've even done some retrospective questioning about some of what I suggested about, e.g., Khan Jamal. I've also listened to the Chico Freeman album I recommended above, and it's a very tenuous connection at best.So I appreciate the late great's questioning about these issues.
Obviously, there's a lot of overlap with "spiritual jazz", and likewise (as the late great notes) some African percussion doesn't really seem all that helpful a guideline. So I'm less sure if "Afro Jazz" is a useful category if we expand it beyond what is literally African.
But maybe there are some artists & albums that are not from Africa but that are much seriously indebted to African music than, for example, Khan Jamal or Chico Freeman. So maybe some paradigm cases of that sort could be helpful. But there's in fact not too many mentioned on this thread that I can really see as being "Afro Jazz" without being literally from Africa. The nearest case I can tell would be The Pyramids record mentioned above.
― Pataphysician, Monday, 7 August 2017 03:23 (six years ago) link
Oops, I missed the late great's suggestions of good paradigms: Idris Ackamoor & The Pyramids, as well as Oneness Of Juju. I'll have to check those out.
― Pataphysician, Monday, 7 August 2017 03:26 (six years ago) link
Pataphysician are you a new poster or just new username? Digging yr posts regardless, also reliably good posts from tlg.
― sleeve, Wednesday, 9 August 2017 04:24 (six years ago) link
I'm a longtime lurker, then a sporadic poster until recently. I'm thinking about writing up some impressions of albums in this vein that I've listened to (e.g., some of the Khan Jamal stuff), as well as doing so for other albums on the rolling jazz thread (e.g., Ed Kelly & Pharoah Sanders's album, as well as some Mal Waldron I've been listening to)
Also, no one here has mentioned Gétatchèw Mèkurya, but I'm guessing that's a familiar name (as well as not being quite in the vein of the original request).
― Pataphysician, Wednesday, 9 August 2017 06:48 (six years ago) link
I think this is totally legit and interesting point, which is why I walked back my AEOC recs
curious what Mordy's liked/listened to so far
― Οὖτις, Wednesday, 9 August 2017 15:58 (six years ago) link
haha maybe I should've read the rest of the late great's posts first *high five*
― Οὖτις, Wednesday, 9 August 2017 15:59 (six years ago) link
(which is not to say that AEOC aren't great cuz they are just maybe not what Mordy was talking about)
― Οὖτις, Wednesday, 9 August 2017 16:00 (six years ago) link
the pyramids i knew but hadn't listened to in a while - they're great tho. similarly the sons of kemet album was def worth revisiting.
re new stuff - i really liked the art blakey & the jazz messengers - drum suite. i had slept on the Soweto Vol. 3 album but that has some good stuff on it (i thought it was a bit uneven but prob to be expected from comp type stuff). the salah ragab was great.
oneness of juju was totally unknown to me and that's another great find.
― Mordy, Wednesday, 9 August 2017 16:24 (six years ago) link
That reminds me: Oneness of Juju is also on the compilation Africafunk: The Original Sound Of 1970s Funky Africa, which is definitely worth seeking out!
― Pataphysician, Thursday, 10 August 2017 05:54 (six years ago) link
Just mentioning that Nigerian Afrobeat legend and master drummer Tony Allen has a rather nice "A Tribute To Art Blakey + the Jazz Messengers" EP out on Blue Note.
― calzino, Thursday, 10 August 2017 09:39 (six years ago) link
there's a new sons of kemet single and apparently an album on the way
has anyone here heard The Comet is Coming? pretty cool stuff i think ppl itt would like.
― Mordy, Sunday, 11 March 2018 15:43 (six years ago) link
it's afro jazz time of year again. i made a playlist last year filled w/ lots of great recommendations from this thread among other stuff that might be of interest to ilmers:
https://open.spotify.com/user/mordys/playlist/2EdiBdI9IexZ06fLFAtP7F?si=jb9KXo9HRlamXfkx75T6BQ
― Mordy, Sunday, 1 July 2018 17:40 (five years ago) link
got the latest Sons of Kemet album ("You're Queen is a Reptile") and instantly made me think of this thread, lots of African rhythms/percussion
― Οὖτις, Monday, 27 August 2018 17:15 (five years ago) link
yeah it's a good one
― the late great, Monday, 27 August 2018 17:15 (five years ago) link
One of my favourite albums of the year.
― Tim F, Monday, 27 August 2018 17:20 (five years ago) link
it's Your Queen smdh
― Οὖτις, Monday, 27 August 2018 17:22 (five years ago) link
I like this recent reissue, Mulatu Astatke & His Ethiopian Quintet – Afro-Latin Soul Vols 1 & 2---going back to '66, and a few tracks seem redundant or undercooked, but unmistakably he's already in bloom, playing vibes, keys, percussion: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mCxFDt4xSXA
― dow, Wednesday, 29 August 2018 01:48 (five years ago) link
This is a brilliant album...
https://soundsoftheuniverse.com/product/yakhal-inkomo
― X-Prince Protégé (sonnyboy), Wednesday, 29 August 2018 10:22 (five years ago) link
if you dig Sons of Kemet, then the Shabaka and the Ancestors album from a couple of years ago is key.
― fetter, Wednesday, 29 August 2018 15:34 (five years ago) link
One of the members of Shabaka and the Ancestors, keyboardist Nduduzo Makhathini, has several albums out as a leader. His music is spiritual Afro-jazz that kind of combines Coltrane circa '64 with Pharoah Sanders circa '71-'72; lots of modal grooves, some vocal ensembles, etc. They're hard to find as physical objects or even paid downloads, but they're all on Spotify (at least in the US).
― grawlix (unperson), Wednesday, 29 August 2018 15:41 (five years ago) link
someone should've recommended dizzy's Afro here cause it's fantastic
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/a/a7/Afro_%28album%29.jpg
― Mordy, Wednesday, 29 May 2019 20:38 (four years ago) link
haven't heard this whole thing, but the samples are nice:https://yuseflateef.bandcamp.com/album/hikima-creativity
― tylerw, Wednesday, 29 May 2019 20:40 (four years ago) link
(maybe bc it's more afro-cuban than straight forward afro jazz?)
so many of the new london jazz ppl belong itt too
love the new theon cross album. and the new comet is coming. and the new ezra collective. and the new cykada.
― Mordy, Wednesday, 29 May 2019 20:40 (four years ago) link
lol at "anti-voxxers"
― rob, Thursday, 6 May 2021 20:26 (two years ago) link
had never heard of Tlokwe Sehume & Medu from South Africa but this kept popping up while i was listening to random Eddie Harris tracks on youtube
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tPBh-2tE21o
― made entirely of styrofoam (GOTT PUNCH II HAWKWINDZ), Sunday, 4 September 2022 10:21 (one year ago) link
I see Johnny Dyani was mentioned upthread but not this particular album (which was on a lot over the summer). Whole album is great but this track in particular is pure gold.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rQ4DiS6Vc3Y
― Shard-borne Beatles with their drowsy hums (Chinaski), Monday, 5 September 2022 18:59 (one year ago) link
Thanks, need to check some more of his----meanwhile, something I posted about on Rolling Jazz 2022:
...jazz is where you find it, and I'm smitten by this Sudanese ballad: hybrid guitar, normie rhythm guitar, bass, perc., just the right bits of tenor sax (most other tracks are faster, equally thoughtful grooves, and the finale has its own dynamic):
― dow, Monday, 5 September 2022 20:48 (one year ago) link
That's thishttps://f4.bcbits.com/img/a3036461062_10.jpg
― dow, Monday, 5 September 2022 20:50 (one year ago) link
Ghanaian saxophonist Gyedu-Blay Ambolley is doing highlife versions of jazz tunes on his album Hi-Life Jazz, which comes out October 7. Here's his version of "Round Midnite" (how it's spelled on the album):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6w4fh11mv6E
― but also fuck you (unperson), Monday, 5 September 2022 20:54 (one year ago) link
xpost Right after the one I posted on RJ, budo jeru added:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4XwKYYFvcDo
― dow, Monday, 5 September 2022 20:55 (one year ago) link
xpost Ambolley too! We're cooking this afternoon.
― dow, Monday, 5 September 2022 20:56 (one year ago) link
Saw some thread on Twitter about modern South African jazz but I can’t find it now. Any recommendations?
― Heez, Sunday, 19 November 2023 14:25 (four months ago) link
Nduduzo MakhathiniKeleketla!
― Nabozo, Sunday, 19 November 2023 14:33 (four months ago) link
Oh thanks!
That in the spirit of ntu album was mention on that thread
― Heez, Sunday, 19 November 2023 14:54 (four months ago) link
two other recent favs
Ayanda Sikade - UmakhuluLinda Sikhakhane - Isambulo
if you don't get a response from unperson on this thread, try asking your question on the rolling jazz thread
― budo jeru, Sunday, 19 November 2023 15:45 (four months ago) link
oh and
https://intlanthem.bandcamp.com/album/rainbow-revisited
― budo jeru, Sunday, 19 November 2023 15:50 (four months ago) link
Really loving this record
https://honestjons.com/shop/artist/The_Malombo_Jazz_Makers/release/Down_Luckys_Way
― X-Prince Protégé (sonnyboy), Sunday, 19 November 2023 17:04 (four months ago) link
Nduduzo Makhathini is fantastic, as others have said — in addition to his latest one, In the Spirit of Ntu, check out Ikhambi (the first thing I heard by him) and Listening to the Ground.
Tenor saxophonist Linda Sikhakhane (a dude) is really good, too; his albums Two Sides, One Mirror and Isambulo are traditional (if Coltrane-in-1964 is a tradition) but worth your time.
I also like saxophonist Sisonke Xonti; wrote about him here.
I interviewed drummer Ayanda Sikade for Bandcamp last year; that was a thrill. He's a super nice guy.
Trumpeter Ndabo Zulu's Queen Nandi: The African Symphony is really good, too; I wrote about that here.
― Tahuti Watches L&O:SVU Reruns Without His Ape (unperson), Sunday, 19 November 2023 22:06 (four months ago) link
https://mindmaintenance.bandcamp.com/album/mind-maintenance
This Josh Abrams & Chad Taylor record is a nice one from a few years ago
― bbq, Sunday, 19 November 2023 23:27 (four months ago) link
unless i'm mistaken, neither of them are south african?
― budo jeru, Monday, 20 November 2023 04:38 (four months ago) link
They are not. I guess I was just recommending “other stuff that is heavily influenced by African sounds”
― bbq, Monday, 20 November 2023 16:17 (four months ago) link
gotcha. this would be the thread for that ;)
― budo jeru, Monday, 20 November 2023 16:23 (four months ago) link