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Benjamin Jephta: Homecoming Revisited
by Dan Bilawsky
At 22 years of age, the up-and-coming Cape Town-reared bassist Benjamin Jephta introduced himself to the wider world via Homecoming (Self Produced, 2015), an engrossing debut featuring South African standouts like tenor saxophonist Sisonke Xonti, trumpeter Marcus Wyatt, pianist Kyle Shepherd, drummer Sphelelo Mazibuko and vocalist Spha Mdlalose. A decade later, he gives us Homecoming Revisted, re-envisioning that material with a large community of collaborators and some hard-won perspective. Opening on “Prayer for... (revisited)," with Mazibuko and percussionist Tlale Makhene ...
Continue ReadingMelanie Scholtz: Seven
by Dan Bilawsky
Seven years is both an eternity and the blink of an eye. Enough of a stretch for individual circumstances to turn on countless dimes, it's also just a brief moment in the sea of existence and the greater, grander scheme. Seven is life itself...yet it's also one of its component cycles. South African-born vocalist Melanie Scholtz is well aware of these contradictions and truths, and, more importantly, the spiritual charge, gifts toward personal growth, well-placed challenges and overall wonder embedded ...
Continue ReadingBokani Dyer: Radio Sechaba
by Dan Bilawsky
Bokani Dyer has already established himself as one of the leading musical voices of his generation in South Africa. But with Radio Sechaba--the heralded multi-hyphenate's first release on aural arbiter Gilles Peterson's Brownswood imprint--he expands his voice, reach and notability. Synthesizing a set of broad influences and building sounds of possibility surrounding his homeland and a global community, Dyer delivers an irresistible amalgam for our times and future. Born in exile in Botswana in 1986 and returning ...
Continue ReadingBokani Dyer, Kenny Barron, Claudia Acuña, Vusi Mahlasela & More
by Ludovico Granvassu
This week we focus on emerging musicians from South Africa, and on a number of recent releases showcasing the many facets of a living master of the piano, Kenny Barron, featured as solo artist on a rare recording date as a leader, as accompanist, as a composer that inspired other contemporary musicians, and as a side-man in a very bop-oriented concert which was recently unearthed.Happy listening!Playlist Ben Allison “Mondo Jazz Theme (feat. Ted Nash & Pyeng ...
Continue ReadingShane Cooper & Mabuta: Finish The Sun
by Dan Bilawsky
On Mabuta's debut—Welcome To This World (Afrosynth Records, 2018)—South African bassist, electronic musician and composer Shane Cooper introduced ears to a leading-edge ensemble intent on delivering trippy, dance-friendly designs. Now, with this second album, he doubles down on that core concept, delivering a heap of hip groovers which draw strength from Pan-African influences and ride high in the atmosphere, twirling atop a rotating cast of drummers plucked from points across the eastern hemisphere. Kicking things off with ...
Continue ReadingBokani Dyer Trio: Neo Native
by Dan Bilawsky
In pianist Bokani Dyer's Neo Native we find a pact between the ideals of advancement and atavism. This rising star on the South African scene and international stage merges modernistic language with traditional streams with this malleable trio, creating a unique signature that's both indebted to his homeland's history and free of clichés. That conjoined sensibility manifests immediately, as the title track opens the album and shifts from mournful streams with a traditionalist bent to dicier developments. ...
Continue ReadingBokani Dyer: African Piano
by Seton Hawkins
Throughout this decade, pianist, composer, and bandleader Bokani Dyer has stood as one of the most formidable and creative keyboard talents in South Africa today. Raised in a musical family--his father is the legendary saxophonist Steve Dyer--Bokani Dyer quickly demonstrated an extraordinary musical vision and identity of his own. Indeed, albums of his, notably Emancipate the Story and World Music, stand as modern classics highlighting the breathtaking creativity in South Africa's music scene today. As Dyer releases his ...
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