Tumi Mogorosi: Group Theory: Black Music

In summer 2022, the portents suggest that South Africa, while not exactly the new London, is shaping up nicely to become another geo-cultural crucible for the reforging of jazz. Prominent among the signs is the formation of Blue Note's imprint Blue Note Africa, which launched in mid June with pianist Nduduzo Makhathini's highly recommended In The Spirit Of Ntu. A surge of classic township-jazz reissues on independent British and North American labels also suggests something is in the air.

There are strong links between the new London and South African scenes. London-based tenor saxophonist and clarinetist Shabaka Hutchings has recorded two albums as leader of the otherwise South African band Shabaka & the Ancestors , and Makhathini and Hutchings have guested on each other's albums. In 2020, London's Brownswood label released the various artists' sampler Indaba Is, which showcased up and coming South African bands including The Ancestors.

Now comes Tumi Mogorosi's Group Theory: Black Music, a joint release by South Africa's Mushroom Hour and London's New Soil labels. Drummer and composer Mogorosi, whose high-impact playing has echoes of both Elvin Jones and Louis Moholo-Moholo, is a member of The Ancestors and South African noiseniks The Wretched, who were also featured on Indaba Is. Mogorosi's core group includes another member of The Ancestors, alto saxophonist Mthunzi Mvubu. The pair are joined by trumpeter Tumi Pheko, guitarist Reza Khota and double bassist Dalisu Ndlazi. The quintet, which is augmented on four tracks by pianist Andile Yenana, has a raw, gritty sound which embraces South Africa's township-jazz heritage and also that of African American spiritual jazz.

So far, so nutritious. But what takes Group Theory: Black Music into its own space is Mogorosi's use of chorale vocals. A powerful choir provides wide-screen soundscapes on all eleven tracks; two of these also feature solo vocalists Siya Mthembu and Gabi Motuba delivering, respectively, male and female reinventions of the American spiritual "Sometimes I Feel Like A Motherless Child." Chorale vocals are in themselves no stranger to jazz, with Max Roach's It's Time (Impulse, 1962), Andrew Hill's Lift Every Voice (Blue Note, 1970) and Billy Harper's Capra Black (Strata-East, 1973) being just three distinguished examples. And chorale vocals are long established in South African jazz as well. Composer Todd Matshikiza's seminal South African jazz opera King Kong made that connection back in 1960.

The vibe of Group Theory: Black Music is, however, altogether heavier than that of King Kong. Portentous going on apocalyptic is more the measure of it. Check the YouTube clip below for the indicative "The Fall," the first single pull.

In the press material accompanying the album, Mogorosi—who used chorale vocals on his debut album, Project ELO (Jazzman, 2014)—writes perceptively about their social and cultural import. Bottom line: he uses them to express the idea of mass, of community, the gathering together of people, and the concomitant political implications. The community Mogorosi has in mind is the global African diaspora—and the direction he believes that it needs to take is mapped out neatly on poet/rapper Lesego Rampolokeng's spitting-fire closer, "Where Are The Keys?"

As Jamaica's Rastafarians were wont to say back in the day when confronted with something weighty such as Culture's "Two Sevens Clash" single, "It dread." Group Theory: Black Music is well dread.

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