F ollowing on Modes of Communication: Letters from the Underworlds (2020) and In the Spirit of Ntu (2022), in his third release, uNomkhubulwa , South Africas internationally acclaimed pianist, composer, educator Nduduzo Makhathini offers 11 original compositions in his highly personal form of transcendent spiritual jazz inspired by his ancestral connections and mentors Bheki Mseleku, Abdullah Ibrahim, John Coltrane and McCoy Tyner, among others.
Performing with a remarkable rhythm section consisting of bassist Zwelakhe-Duma Bell le Pere and drummer Francisco Mela, Makhathinis trio delivers a delicately balanced, seamless interplay of immersive jazz grounded in his Zulu cultural heritage and cosmology.
The album showcases the prowess of each artists mastery of their instrument and the communicative power and finesse of truly sensitive, close-knit, mutually supportive improvisatory ensemble playing.
Sung and spoken incantations by Makhathini, sometimes embellished with back-up vocals by Mela and Bell le Pere, enrich the soundscape and add to the musics uniqueness (translations of these in the liner notes would have been a plus).
The interaction among the three musicians creates a buoyant, compelling energy, often contemplative and gentle, sometimes hard-driving and always propelled and undergirded by the insistent, precise layered drumming of Mela.
