Caution the item is not in SACD format as listed.
I ordered it because of the format, disappointed when I received the CD.
Musically the CD is great.
This wonderful collection of some of Africa's greatest straight ahead jazz players features some very cool tunes covering quite a wide-ranging stylistic soundscape. There's a little Afro-modal Shorter-ish hard bop ("Owed to Bishop"), a bit of McCoy Tyner-styled post bop ("Naivasha"), some great Township jazz ("Celebrate Mzansi"), a dollop of King Sunny Ade juju ("Langery"), Hugh Masekela meets "Cast Your Fate to the Wind" ("Tugela Rail"), Afro-Caribbean ("Dee Mwa Wee"), more Masekela stylings, updated ("Imbali"), and even an Afro-samba ("Shawn's Uhadi Samba")
A wild, untethered joy suffuses these songs, pure blitheness of spirit, with sometimes just a thin vein of sorrow or melancholy sneaking through.
My favorite numbers include "Imbali," by the great pianist Bheki Mseleku (Where's he been hiding out for the past decade, after a handful of fine discs in the early 90s?), music of the very highest standard with some killer sax work by Ezra Ngcukana and the mellow flugel horn of Feya Faku; "Shawn's Uhadi Samba," a simple, mesmeric tune with gorgeous horn harmonies and smart piano vamps by Hotep Idris Galeta; the driving, get-under-your-skin modality of "Owed to Bishop" by trumpeter Marcus Wyatt; and the dancing glee of "Celebrate Mzansi" (I'm a sucker for that Township stuff). But it's all operating on a very high level. And despite the quite amazing diversity of styles, it all hangs together. That's because, I think, it's not like a normal anthology. It's more like selections drawn from a large extended family of music makers, with many of the players popping up on each other's tunes.
Entirely enjoyable and certainly worth picking up.
This is a really striking and lovely disc! Shades of pure jazz, with hints of Abdullah Ibrahim, Gigi and Randy Weston. A really nice and at times forceful range of styles is shown here, from jazz as-you-know-it to stirring, haunting vocals on track 4 to mbalax overtures and nods to King Sunny. This album does not cover the Arabic northern aspect of Africa, the Red Sea Riviera, but does a very nice job on southwards. A disc you will play on long drives in the car or sitting with the Sunday paper. This is a solid collection of jazzy, African moods and themes...
Africa Straight Ahead is a uniquely performed and flawlessly recorded music CD anthology showcasing great African jazz, and celebrating the ten-year anniversary of the end of apartheid. Featuring a cross-section of jazz styles, these toe-tapping rhythms blend emotion and sheer energy with pulsing drumbeat of human history. Tracks include Owed To Bishop (5:54), Naivasha (6:55), Celebrate Mzansi (5:32), Beautiful Love (4:42), Langery (4:49), Tugela Rail (5:39), Sweet Anathi (7:18), Lovers On Empty Corners (4:17), Amasabekwelanggeni (7:36), Dee Mwa Wee (8:24), Imbali (5:51), and Shawn's Uhadi Samba (4:01).
