Pianist Thandi Ntuli opened this richly varied evening with a sung recitation over characteristically rolling South African piano,that brought a questioning note to this gala night for the end of the London Jazz Festival. It was a celebration of the anniversary of the new, democratic South Africa, but acknowledged that the euphoria that attended the end of Apartheid is now tempered by enduring problems, in South Africa and around the world.
There is still plenty of stirring music to celebrate, and the programme looked forward rather than back to the South African jazz of an earlier era, with Ntuli and her co-curator for the evening Siyabonga Mthembu bringing together a fascinating array of players from the current SA scene, and a few UK guests.
She was joined in duo by Thandiswa Mazwai, who has a voice to make the hair stand on end. Their mini-set of three impassioned songs was brief but intensely satisfying, especially when the two sang together, a vocal blend that surely deserves further exploration.
Then a rapid changeover to bring on another contemporary piano star, Bokani Dyer, who opened with his African Piano Suite, energised by the remarkable drumming of Tumi Mogorosi. He was joined by another fine pianist, less well known in the UK, Keenan Meyer, whose style has a similarly fruitful relationship to Abdullah Ibrahim, and then Soweto Kinch, whose saxophone interjections were sometimes lost in the mix. If there was a slightly tentative air about this assembly’s offering, it was dispelled with their final flourish, a rousing treatment of Kinch’s swinger Revival Time from his 2018 Black Peril recording.
Getting acquainted with three superb pianists who all demand further attention would have been an evening well-spent, but there was almost a full concert’s worth of music to come. The post interval set brought the magnificent voice of Mthembu leading The Brother Moves On. Their music is simpler, though not unsubtle, and more dance oriented. There were still prayerful moments, but the band were mainly in a high energy zone. And there was energy to spare, Mogorisi’s return meaning they enjoyed the power of two drummers and Chelsea Carmichael augmenting the saxophones. Communal singing swiftly ensued, followed by energetic dancing in the auditorium, bringing this long festival finale to a rousing conclusion.
