Jive & Soul: The Very Best Of

It’s highly unusual to combine two different artists on a ‘Best Of’ set like this, but the teaming of two of South Africa’s longest-running musical institutions works rather well. The first disc features a generous 26 tracks chronicling the career of Simon ‘Mahlathini’ Nkabinde and the Mahotella Queens. Compiler John Armstrong has avoided any of the 20 tracks that appeared on Wrasse’s 2003 collection, and so has missed a few gems. Yet producer Rupert Bopape exercised such quality control on their countless albums that there’s enough material to fill numerous compilations without repetition. Armstrong has gone right back to their earliest years with 1960s recordings made under names such as the Mthunzini Girls and the Marula Boom Stars to give us an overview that spans four decades and tracks the development of South African popular music from the early mgqashiyo and mbaqanga styles through disco, bubblegum and beyond. The 1980s track ‘Melodi Yalla’, for example, bears the undeniable influence of Boney M. Which is fair enough for, although their Zulu roots are never far from the surface in the Queens’ keening harmonies and Mahlatini’s basso profundo voice, fundamentally their ambition was to make great pop music.

The Soul Brothers are stylistically similar in their roots but quite different in their execution, which is probably why the pairing on this set works so well. Once again, we get a wide-ranging span of material from a career of similar longevity. With their trademark Hammond organ always to the fore, the earliest tracks are surprisingly minimal, twitchy funk which tips its hat to New Orleans’ the Meters. The later material is smoother, taking in other American soul and gospel influences, while retaining the bouncing mbaqanga bass lines shared with the sound of Mahlathini. Unlike the first disc, there are a few weak moments, such as the banal ‘I Feel So Lonely Without You’. But there’s plenty to make this a perfect introduction to both acts.