Gwen Ansell
8 May 2008
Johannesburg — THE crass philistinism of the 2008 MTN South African Music Awards (Sama) nominations was exceeded only by the crass predictability of both last weekend's event (overdressed MCs largely talking nonsense) and the winners. If there was an overall star, it was the highly marketable Freshlyground, whose Macheri won Album of the Year, Best Adult Contemporary English and Best Group.
Freshlyground are capable and talented, and their song Pot Belly has given normally proportioned women an anthem -- but they are essentially Afropop lite, and lead singer Zolani Mahola displays her considerable talents far more effectively in other contexts.
Most of the jazz artists nominated won nothing. Jimmy Dludlu predictably walked away with the Best Contemporary Jazz Award, for Portrait, his most thoughtful outing for years, but solidly conservative in approach. Tony Cox took the Best Instrumental award for Blue Light: long overdue recognition for a highly accomplished guitarist. The judges should hang their heads for their final (he now having been dead for nearly a year), shameful refusal to acknowledge guitarist John Fourie, not only for his superb music, but also for what, in Once Upon A Time, was easily the finest jazz album in production and listening quality of this or several previous years.
However, the winner of the Best Traditional Jazz award is no impostor. Saxophonist McCoy Mrubata's Brasskap Sessions Vol 1 epitomised the musician's output: consistent quality, muscular, committed playing from the leader, catchy repertoire and a beautifully directed ensemble. Like most genuine jazz players, he's even more interesting live than on record, and will mark his award with a performance at Barrington's in Killarney on Saturday May 10 at 7.30pm, also featuring pianist Paul Hanmer. The show will likely be authentically hot and sweet enough to take away the nasty taste of what, for jazz, has become the annual Sama emetic.
It's easy to become too focused on the misfortunes of the South African jazz scene, and forget that jazz is also struggling to be heard elsewhere on the continent. And one of the most interesting locations is the Democratic Republic of Congo, where, from the ashes of war, percussionist Paul Ngoie's group J'Afro'zz is building an urban jazz renaissance in Kinshasa. J'Afro'zz have just released a Belgian-recorded album, Ngoma Tempo .
Much as Chucho Valdes and Irakere revitalised the jaded nightclub jazz of Havana by reference to the deep rhythms of its African heritage, Ngoie and his team draw on complex Congolese patterns: the well-known agbaya, the contemporary ndombolo (more often a cue for hip-shaking kwassa dances), lubuilu and pende. Above these flow compositions from the leader and other band members. Melodic inspirations range from the opening flourish of the first track, Congo, which might have come straight off one of those 1950s Brazza dance band recordings, to the far more familiar territory of profound jazz swing on tunes such as Mpori and Yves in Sorrow. The title track, Ngoma Tempo, is a percussion tour de force that moves effortlessly between forest tradition and city sophistication; the following track, Rencontre, brings together a Belgian saxophonist and rhythm players from Togo, Burkina Faso and Congo in the most experimental improvisations.
All the soloists are assured and imaginative, but particularly riveting are the leader, bassist Claude Bakubama, guitarist Yves Monama and saxophonists Augustin Kadiata and Fabrizio Cassol. These last two incorporate a few homages to Manu Dibangu into their sounds -- inevitable and appropriate since Soul Makossa was one of the founders and heralds of contemporary Francophone West African jazz.
But what's most striking about J'Afro'zz is that neither the rhythm patterns nor the jazz stylings feel like mere ornaments. The earlier invocation of Irakere was deliberate -- as in that band, an organic fusion has been created between cultural roots and modern jazz imagination. It's time someone brought this band to SA.
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