Kari S Posted May 23, 2005 Report Share Posted May 23, 2005 Now, I'm aware that jazz originated from plantation lullabies sung by African slaves, and some rhythmic things like polyrhythms come from there, but having recently been listening to McCoy Tyner's late 60's and 70's albums (like Tender Moments, "Man From Tanganyika" for example), I started thinking. What other great jazz albums and artists with clear African influences are there, and what do you recommend? I think at least Woody Shaw had some...? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jim Dye Posted May 23, 2005 Report Share Posted May 23, 2005 Randy Weston - Just about anything you can get your hands on. I highly recommend The Spirits of our Ancestors Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guy Berger Posted May 23, 2005 Report Share Posted May 23, 2005 Trane's Kulu Se Mama The '72-'75 Miles Davis band... Pangaea, Agharta, Dark Magus Guy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
couw Posted May 23, 2005 Report Share Posted May 23, 2005 Try some Dollar Brand / Abdullah Ibrahim while you're at it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jazzbo Posted May 23, 2005 Report Share Posted May 23, 2005 Randy Weston, for sure, all good recommendations here. Also The Brotherhood of Breath, Hugh Masakela . . . . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dr. Rat Posted May 23, 2005 Report Share Posted May 23, 2005 African Jazz Pioneers might be a stop. There's actually plenty of good South African jazz ranging from stuff along the lines of 30s swing to Dudu Pukwana, a lot of which drinks deeply from the well of African trad and pop. --eric Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Noj Posted May 23, 2005 Report Share Posted May 23, 2005 I've got volumes one and two of this series which feature African-themed jazz from Blue Note albums. Some cool Art Blakey tracks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
couw Posted May 23, 2005 Report Share Posted May 23, 2005 African Jazz Pioneers might be a stop. There's actually plenty of good South African jazz ranging from stuff along the lines of 30s swing to Dudu Pukwana, a lot of which drinks deeply from the well of African trad and pop. --eric ← indeed. here's a link to previous discussion Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JSngry Posted May 23, 2005 Report Share Posted May 23, 2005 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kalo Posted May 23, 2005 Report Share Posted May 23, 2005 I second (or third?) Randy Weston. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Johnny E Posted May 23, 2005 Report Share Posted May 23, 2005 How about African music with jazz influences? Fela Kuti: Fela Ransome Kuti & the Africa '70 With Ginger Baker Fela Anikulapo Kuti and Roy Ayers - Music of Many Colours Fela Anikulapo Kuti with Lester Bowie - No Agreement Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JSngry Posted May 23, 2005 Report Share Posted May 23, 2005 Yes to Fela! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jazzmoose Posted May 23, 2005 Report Share Posted May 23, 2005 Babtunde Olatunji's Love Drum Talk. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brownie Posted May 24, 2005 Report Share Posted May 24, 2005 Ahmed Abdul-Malik is an excellent recommendation! Couple more albums worth seeking (there are others): - Jazz Sahara (with Johnny Griffin) on Riverside, reissued on the OJC series, - East Meets West (with Lee Morgan, Curtis Fuller, Griffin, etc..) on RCA, reissued on vinyl and NOT TO BE MISSED: - Roswell Rudd 'MaliCool'. Details at: http://www.rootsworld.com/reviews/malicool.shtml Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
White Lightning Posted May 24, 2005 Report Share Posted May 24, 2005 Also The Brotherhood of Breath, Hugh Masakela . . . . ← BoB is great, look for "Travelling Somewhere" Also try to find some of "the Blue Notes" stuff - a South african sextet led by McGregor as well. and NOT TO BE MISSED: - Roswell Rudd 'MaliCool'. Details at: http://www.rootsworld.com/reviews/malicool.shtml ← I second that!! Also look for WSQ's M'Bizo Now that I think about it, many of Bluiett's album have african influences and several of David Murray. And try any of Don Pullen's The African-Brazilian Connection. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
king ubu Posted May 24, 2005 Report Share Posted May 24, 2005 (edited) As you will quickly see when following couw's link above (and then following the links in that thread again), I'm a big fan of the ZA jazz and jive stuff! Most highly recommended for someone rather new to this would be two compilations: African Horns (on Kaz/Camden, feat. Ibrahim, Moeketsi, Coetzee a.o.) Jazz in Africa Vol. 1 - The Jazz Epistles (see the Kippie thread for details on the discography, which is a mess - this one's again on Kaz or Camden) Then of course, there's a bunch of excellent Ibrahim discs (recommended for the "genre" we're discussing here: African Marketplace [Discovery/Warner], a large band including Carlos Ward. Then there are tons of great discs of his on Enja, check out South Africa, Africa - Tears & Laughter, Zimbabwe... some of his solo stuff is excellent, too, first tip: African Piano on some ECM subsidiary. Then his two duo discs with Johnny Dyani, discussed, I think, in a Dyani thread in the artists section). On Weston: get all you can, simple as that! Many of his late eighties/early nineties albums produced by Jean-Philippe Allard for French Universal are OOP or hard to find, but they're all excellent. Here's a few I love: Volcano (feat. Teddy Edwards!!!), Saga (recently reissued in that anniversary series, I think, I got the older issue), the above mentioned Spirits of our Ancestors (I think that one runs out of steam at some points, but still it's a great one, feat. Dizzy, Pharoah, Dewey Redman [right?], and Idrees Sulieman, among the usual gang of Benny Powell, Talib Kibwe and Alex Blake, who are on most of these discs). Then there is a fascinating "crossover" album Randy did with those Gnawa musicians that also recorded with Ornette - I can't remember the title of that one, but grab it when you can! In a similar "crossover" vein is the mentioned maliCOOL of Roswell Rudd's - one hell of a beautiful and grooving disc, I tellya! I assume that, plus the stuff mentioned by others will keep you busy for some time! Question: how "honest" and "genuine" are those fifties things? I mean, I like those Blakey drum-fests, and the Ahmad Abdul-Malik things, too, but then, how much do they really have to do with Africa, and how far are they just reflecting the image of Africa, the "idea" that urban African-Americans had of Africa in a highly-charged time? (Slightly related: Interesting website I found while googling - obviously - for Marcus Garvey.) Edited May 27, 2005 by king ubu Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kari S Posted May 24, 2005 Author Report Share Posted May 24, 2005 Solid suggestions, everyone - thanks. I'm aware of artists like Weston (though I've only heard 'Blue Moses' on CTi), Dollar Brand. Or from Africa: Fela and Masekela; but there were a lot of people I've never heard of and might be interested. Even though I was mainly looking for (African-)American jazz artists influenced by the "motherland", mostly in the sounds and colors of their compositions, like McCoy. I came up with one discovery of my own - a group called The Pharaohs (leader Louis Satterfield) whose 1971 "Awakening" seems to be quite tight stuff. Even the reissue is apparently oop though, but you can listen a few clips here. I gotta find that one. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Noj Posted May 24, 2005 Report Share Posted May 24, 2005 That "Pharohs" stuff is fun, Kari S. I downloaded it from emusic a while back. In addition, The Daktaris are cool Afrobeat stuff available on emusic. There's also compilations called "Booniay" and "The Danque" that feature more funky Afrobeat stuff. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JSngry Posted May 24, 2005 Report Share Posted May 24, 2005 ...I was mainly looking for (African-)American jazz artists influenced by the "motherland", mostly in the sounds and colors of their compositions, like McCoy....I came up with one discovery of my own - a group called The Pharaohs (leader Louis Satterfield) whose 1971 "Awakening" seems to be quite tight stuff. Even the reissue is apparently oop though, but you can listen a few clips here. I gotta find that one. ← The AK Salim album I mentioned earlier has a front line of Johnny Coles, Yusef Lateef, & Pat Patrick blowing in front of an African drum choir. That's it - no ersatx attempts at "fusion" or anything like that. Pretty strong stuff, imo. As a trivial note, did you know that Louis Satterfield went on to play with Earth, Wind & Fire in the 1970s? That band's ties to the Chicago jazz scene of the late 1960s/early 1970s weren't fully eradicated for quite some time! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chuck Nessa Posted May 24, 2005 Report Share Posted May 24, 2005 Does the phrase "ancient to the future" ring a bell? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GregK Posted May 24, 2005 Report Share Posted May 24, 2005 Does the phrase "ancient to the future" ring a bell? ← exactly what I was thinking, Chuck Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SEK Posted May 25, 2005 Report Share Posted May 25, 2005 Does the phrase "ancient to the future" ring a bell? ← exactly what I was thinking, Chuck ← Indeed! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chris olivarez Posted May 26, 2005 Report Share Posted May 26, 2005 Pharoah Sanders "Jewels of Thought" also the one that followed it and "Thembi" all have African influences. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alexander Hawkins Posted May 26, 2005 Report Share Posted May 26, 2005 I don't know much Hamid Drake yet, but 'Together Again' with Fred Anderson seems to fit here. Also, Kahil El'Zabar's 'Love Outside of Dreams'. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nemo7 Posted May 27, 2005 Report Share Posted May 27, 2005 speaking of mccoy tyner-"asante" Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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