Spirit of Malombo

To appreciate Julian Bahula's contribution to South African music, you don’t need to know that he was a tireless anti-Apartheid campaigner, who toured South Africa clandestinely with Steve Biko in 1971 before his political exile. But it helps. Bahula's switch from his modern drum-kit to the indigenous conga-like malombo drums helped define the radical new form of South African jazz celebrated on the first of these two CDs. Rooted in pre-colonial traditions, the sound is spare but haunting. Apart from the vocals of Hilda Tloubatla of the Mahotella Queens on two tracks, it's mainly a mesmerising interplay of drums, Abbey Cindi's flute and Lucky Ranku's electric guitar.

On the more eclectic second CD, featuring their output from the 70s and 80s, the influences are more diverse, the music more international and the message more overtly political. Living in exile in the UK, Bahula and Ranku preserved the essence of the malombo sound in their band Jaluba. While the two cuts by Jazz Afrika are more overtly jazzy, it was their song ‘Mandela’ that would go on to inspire the Special AKA's rousing hit ‘ Nelson Mandela’. Musically, historically and culturally, this latest release from the Strut label is both important and rewarding.