VARIOUS ARTISTS

Next Stop...Soweto, Vol. 3: Giants, Ministers and Makers -- Jazz in South Aftrica 1963-1984

2010-06-14

Strut Records concludes a three-CD set of early South African music by highlighting that country's jazz musicians of the '60s, '70s and '80s. While many prominent artists fled South Africa for the safer and richer shores of the U.S. and Europe, these musicians stayed and kept jazz alive. Some interesting stuff here -- you can hear the roots of what Hugh Masekela wound up doing with "Grazin' in the Grass" in 1968. The Malombo cuts are the ones that fuse jazz and African rhythms the most extensively. That these artists could play so skillfully during a time of great repression is amazing. Such is the power of music. 06/10 Michael J.

Quick Links:

• Strut Records site for this disc
• Review of the three-disc series