Customer Reviews

Africa Straight Ahead

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4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
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This wonderful collection of some of Africa's greatest straight ahead jazz players features some very cool tunes covering quite a wide-ranging stylistic soundscape. There's a little Afro-modal Shorter-ish hard bop ("Owed to Bishop"), a bit of McCoy Tyner-styled post bop ("Naivasha"), some great Township jazz ("Celebrate Mzansi"), a dollop of King Sunny Ade juju ("Langery"), Hugh Masekela meets "Cast Your Fate to the Wind" ("Tugela Rail"), Afro-Caribbean ("Dee Mwa Wee"), more Masekela stylings, updated ("Imbali"), and even an Afro-samba ("Shawn's Uhadi Samba")

A wild, untethered joy suffuses these songs, pure blitheness of spirit, with sometimes just a thin vein of sorrow or melancholy sneaking through.

My favorite numbers include "Imbali," by the great pianist Bheki Mseleku (Where's he been hiding out for the past decade, after a handful of fine discs in the early 90s?), music of the very highest standard with some killer sax work by Ezra Ngcukana and the mellow flugel horn of Feya Faku; "Shawn's Uhadi Samba," a simple, mesmeric tune with gorgeous horn harmonies and smart piano vamps by Hotep Idris Galeta; the driving, get-under-your-skin modality of "Owed to Bishop" by trumpeter Marcus Wyatt; and the dancing glee of "Celebrate Mzansi" (I'm a sucker for that Township stuff). But it's all operating on a very high level. And despite the quite amazing diversity of styles, it all hangs together. That's because, I think, it's not like a normal anthology. It's more like selections drawn from a large extended family of music makers, with many of the players popping up on each other's tunes.

Entirely enjoyable and certainly worth picking up.

Caution the item is not in SACD format as listed.
I ordered it because of the format, disappointed when I received the CD.
Musically the CD is great.

Africa Straight Ahead is a uniquely performed and flawlessly recorded music CD anthology showcasing great African jazz, and celebrating the ten-year anniversary of the end of apartheid. Featuring a cross-section of jazz styles, these toe-tapping rhythms blend emotion and sheer energy with pulsing drumbeat of human history. Tracks include Owed To Bishop (5:54), Naivasha (6:55), Celebrate Mzansi (5:32), Beautiful Love (4:42), Langery (4:49), Tugela Rail (5:39), Sweet Anathi (7:18), Lovers On Empty Corners (4:17), Amasabekwelanggeni (7:36), Dee Mwa Wee (8:24), Imbali (5:51), and Shawn's Uhadi Samba (4:01).