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
Yeah, the new Ezra Collective has a cover of Fela's "Shakara" with Kokoroko on it - it's great.
― shared unit of analysis (unperson), Wednesday, 29 May 2019 20:43 (four years ago) link
2016's The Rough Guide To Ethiopian Jazz took a couple of spins, but soon became and remains one of my fave albums of this century. Subject for further study" Mongo Santamaria's Afro-Cuban Jazz, a familiar tag at the time, esp. late 50s-early 60s, when he was employing Chick Corea, and the live "Afro Blue" I heard again the other night on the radio seems a likely gateway for the nascent Allman Brothers Band, despite lack of guitars (also I think one of their early Florida-Alabama club circuit associates told me that). He seems pretty commercial, but a distinctive stylist ( "Afro Blue" was my gateway to Trane, via T.'s version). The back-and-forth of African, Latin, El Norte jazz and adjacent genres can have very varied results, but has always been engaging (oh yeah we haven't mentioned the Jazz Epistles here yet right)
― dow, Thursday, 30 May 2019 18:30 (four years ago) link
Another fave: Orchestre Poly-Rythmo De Cotonou, of Dahomey, esp.Echos Hypnotiques, Vol. 2. although I haven't heard them all. Seems like Denardo Coleman (or somebody else who should know) said somewhere that there is a lot (or some) more Ornette w Master Musicians of Jajouka than what we got on Dancing In Your Head. He's only on one track here, but whole thing looks appealing: https://www.allaboutjazz.com/the-road-to-jajouka-ornette-coleman-the-master-musicians-of-jajouka-howe-records-review-by-chris-may.php
― dow, Thursday, 30 May 2019 18:46 (four years ago) link
Lots of good suggestions earlier in the thread. Two albums I love that I don't think have shown up yet are Makaya Ntshoko's "Makaya & the Tsotsis" (very much in the spiritual jazz vein) and, if you can find it, Pat Matshikiza and Kippie Moeketsi's "Tshona" (I think this would appeal to all fans of Abdullah Ibrahim or of South African jazz in general, but it's got a really unique sound to it).
If you like the Makaya Ntshoko album, he's also the drummer on Hugh Masekela's "Home Is Where the Music Is," better known than a lot of the stuff in this thread so far but definitely worth checking out if you haven't already.
― berlihe, Thursday, 30 May 2019 18:46 (four years ago) link
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oWas-Aug5bo
― Mordy, Thursday, 30 May 2019 21:20 (four years ago) link
more in fela vein but it's great
― Mordy, Thursday, 30 May 2019 21:21 (four years ago) link
(not that fela isn't great obv just that i'm not 100% sure fela should be in this thread's remit but i wanted to share good music)
Since there's been lots of talk about Khan Jamal, worth mentioning the Sounds of Liberation record, too?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lZw4XE7G4kM&t=1597s
― blue light or electric light (the table is the table), Thursday, 30 May 2019 23:46 (four years ago) link
i also want to heartily rec one of my favorite records, period, and that is The WELS Concert by Brotzmann/Gania/Drake... think it fits the parameters, but i remain somewhat of a dabbler in the jazz scene, so feel free to correct me.
anyway, this is the record that made me really "get" jazz of a certain type, and i still blast it all the time.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PaPnidEujwM
― blue light or electric light (the table is the table), Thursday, 30 May 2019 23:50 (four years ago) link
He was briefly mentioned by the late great upthread, but Idris Ackamoor & the Pyramids' "An Angel Fell" from last year is highly recommended
― rob, Friday, 31 May 2019 14:58 (four years ago) link
This is one of my all time favorite albums: Pharoah Sanders and Maleem Mahmoud Ghania, Trance of the Seven Colors. North African Gnawa music with face-ripping free jazz sax on top.
https://billlaswell.bandcamp.com/album/the-trance-of-seven-colors
― grawlix (unperson), Thursday, July 27, 2017 2:37 PM (two years ago) bookmarkflaglink
recently got into this via a reissue by a german label that popped up on maybe the forced exposure e-letter or something similar.
love the record, which you can stream on youtube anyway, but this vinyl is dog shit
― budo jeru, Monday, 11 November 2019 01:51 (four years 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 (five months ago) link
oh and
https://intlanthem.bandcamp.com/album/rainbow-revisited
― budo jeru, Sunday, 19 November 2023 15:50 (five 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 (five 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 (five 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 (five months ago) link
unless i'm mistaken, neither of them are south african?
― budo jeru, Monday, 20 November 2023 04:38 (five 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 (five months ago) link
gotcha. this would be the thread for that ;)
― budo jeru, Monday, 20 November 2023 16:23 (five months ago) link