And is it jazz?

One of the factors that keep me interested in jazz is its diversity. Three recent cds have offered perspectives that come from very different approaches to the music. THE ROUGH GUIDE and THE BOMBAY JAZZ PALACE attempt to convey some of the cultural influences that can shape the development of jazz. ELTON DEAN & MARK HEWINS utilise some of the technological devices available alongside the acoustic tradition of improvisation. All three are worth investigating.

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It can’t be an easy task presenting the range of South African Jazz over 70 minutes but this cd makes a commendable effort. And hopefully it will encourage new listeners to explore the range of music that falls under that heading.

The accompanying booklet begins with a reference to the influx of South African musicians who came to the UK in the 60s fleeing the horrors of apartheid and also enriching the London jazz scene. The story of Chris McGregor, Dudu Pukwana, Mongesi Feza, Louis Moholo, Johnny Dyani & Nick Moyake is well documented as anyone who knows the music of The Blue Notes and The Brotherhood Of Breath will be aware. This cd includes the Brotherhood’s ‘Tunji’s Song’ from their seminal Willisau concert in 1973. It’s not as wild as they could be but it is a lovely and rare example of Feza’s trumpet playing and the way drummer Moholo could drive and hold together this wonderfully ragged and sprawling ensemble. Listen to the applause which follows Feza’s solo. A much loved and missed guy.

Another exile who has returned periodically, Abdullah Ibrahim, is represented by a trio recording from 1997. ‘African Marketplace’ features the over-busy drumming of George Gray which, for me, obscures some of Ibrahim’s playing. I would have preferred to hear him solo, perhaps on something from his ‘African Dawn’ album (ENJA 4030). There is so much to choose from.

Some straightahead playing can be heard from a band Ibrahim was once part of. Jazz In Africa aka Jazz Epistles are featured on their classic ‘Twelve Times Twelve’ which showcases Hugh Masekela (trumpet), Kippie Moeketsi (sax) and Jonas Gwangwa (trombone) all trading licks in relaxed style. Equally relaxed is Lemmy Special’s ‘See You Later’ a fine piece of township jive from 1958. An example of the fashionable pennywhistle kwela of the era, it finds the whistle and producer Dan Hill’s sax swapping riffs over lightly swinging guitar and percussion. Although not on this cd the work of Spokes Mashiyane is worth seeking out as another fine example of the genre. From a year later Miriam Makeba & The Skylarks swing with equal ease through ‘Siyavuya’ and provide an example of an all female vocal style.

Moving on a few decades to the 1990s, demonstrating some of the changes that have taken place in jazz, and not only the South African variety, there is Sipho Mabuse’s ‘Thaba Bosiu’ which fuses the traditional, in the shape of the lesiba – a shepherd’s instrument , with swathes of electric keyboards and smooth sax that probably wouldn’t be out of place on a Dire Straits album. That’s not a put-down; it is an attractive piece and has more to it than just MOR. Similar fusions are evident on Deepak Ram’s ‘Cabbage and Roti’ where flute and kora combine with electric bass and percussion to produce a sound that is multicultural and spacious. Is it jazz ? Does it matter ? If it entices listeners to explore further it’s fine by me. And I’m sure ‘Wait Awhile’, where reggae and township meet joyously will capture a good few listeners. Thank you Winston’s Jive Mix-Up for that.

Coming something of a full circle Chris McGregor & The South African Exiles have a track that was recorded a few years before his death with some of his old partners. Sadly, it isn’t something memorable, which is a pity, but appropriately the album closes with a tune by one of McGregor’s musical and spiritual brothers, Mongezi Feza. ‘You Think You Know Me’ is something I’ve heard in many settings and Zim Ngqawana’s straight forward reading of this almost hymnal theme is one of the most satisfying. Unadorned and spare, his quartet offer a fitting conclusion to a journey through some of the vast range of music that gathers under the title South African jazz. If you want a taster then start here.

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In my most unrequited dream Quintessence have re-formed and are in the middle of a sell-out tour with the Third Ear Band. Both bands proudly display their original line-ups. People miss major football matches in order to hear the mighty Shiva sing: ‘Only Love Can Save Us’. Like that fantasy, The Bombay Jazz Palace is mostly a figment of the imagination, held together by a wish.

Still, the first track of this compilation conjured up the possibility of such an event. Paul Horn & Nexus combine tabla rhythms which recall those of Third Ear man Glen Sweeney with the refracted flute explorations of Quintessence’s Raja Ram. However, Horn’s quicksilver flute is also driven by percussion that has its origins in Latin-America and Africa.

Elsewhere among this hallucinatory gathering you’ll find The Dave Pike Set, bells and sitar colliding with vibes and rather stodgy bass. You will also hear shades of Paul McCandless in the oboe’s ersatz Hindustani weavings on Between’s ‘Contemplation’, a hypnotic tabla and piano propelled fusion.

And fusion is what much of this collection is really about. It’s all very retro, featuring plenty of funky backbeats, electric keyboard noodlings with both real and fake sitars sneaking in and out of tracks. Volker Kriegel’s ‘Zoom’ is a good example; funky drums clatter behind fuzz guitar and choppy electric piano while the sitar picks out the tune in tandem with guitar. It’s from 1971 and it shows.

Still in the early 70s and reminiscent of dodgy ‘B’ movies are tracks from Lalo Schifrin and George Garvarenz, both of whom were involved in providing scores for film and television. The latter’s contribution features breathy, wordless female voices and heavy timpani with dramatic sweeping strings. You could imagine the groovy, swinging ‘Haschish Party’ of the title, full of skinny girls who want to be models and overweight European business men with leanings toward the soft porn industry. Or is that just another of my imaginings? Shifrin’s piece is all mean streets and hip dudes in shirts with immense collars. Jazz funk with gold medallions.

The cheesiest offering of all comes from the American’s Dave Mackay & Vicky Hamilton. This too has an aroma of film/tv score and as it turns out Tom Scott, composer of such memorable themes as ‘Starsky and Hutch’, had a hand in it. ‘Blues For Hari’ written in 1969 has the vocal charms of say The Carpenters impersonating Cleo Laine. The lyrics were not meant to be taken seriously. It would have gone down well at a haschish party, I think.

But it’s not all cheese-flavoured retro. Grupo Batuque, like Paul Horn, have created a rhythmic melange of percussive sounds from Brazilian, African and Indian sources. Add to this a dirty, sliding acoustic bass with no other augmentation and you have one of the cd’s most compelling tracks.

If you fancy some Indo-jazz-funk with a strong 70s ambience get your patchouli and joss sticks out. Or you could wait for the Quintessence reunion to come to town.