Mankunku Quartet - Yakhal' Inkomo LP
SKU: MRBLP220
Description:
The Mankunku Quartet's 1968 album 'Yakhal' Inkomo’ clocks in at
just over 30 minutes of jazz perfection. This compact, and
to-the-point, album would sit comfortably in amongst some of the
best works in the catalogues of any of the quintessential jazz
labels such as Blue Note, Prestige and Impulse. 'Yakhal' Inkomo’,
however, was originally released on the South African record label
World Record Co., which resulted in it becoming an elusive and
sought-after piece for jazz collectors. First press copies
sometimes fetch as much as £1,000 on the collectors' market. It has
been long regarded as one of the finest South African jazz albums
and DJ / broadcaster Gilles Peterson cemented this when he included
it in his "best of genre" focussed radio show, 'The 20 - South
African Jazz'.
Tenor saxophonist Winston "Mankunku" Ngozi recorded the session on
23rd July 1968 at the Manley van Niekerk Studios, in Johannesburg.
It was recorded by Dave Challen and produced by Ray Nkwe. The
session is built up of two original works by Mankunku on the
A-side, 'Yakhal' Inkomo' & 'Dedication (To Daddy Trane and
Brother Shorter)', and on the B-side, the Horace Silver composition
'Doodlin', and a John Coltrane number 'Bessie's Blues'. What is
striking is how the Mankunku-penned compositions not only hold
their own next to Silver and Coltrane but they are, arguably, the
better tracks on the record - a testament to the beautiful writing
and playing of Mankunku.
'Yakhal' Inkomo' features the great musicians; Agrippa Magwaza on
bass, drummer Early Mabuza, and pianist Lionel Pillay. Pillay was
of Indian descent, making this a mixed-race group, thus the very
recording of the album was an act of resistance as it broke the
apartheid restrictions of the time. The title of 'Yakhal’ Inkomo'
means “the bellow of the bull”, the Black audience would have
understood this as coded community symbolism and an act of protest
but it escaped the attention of the white government.
For this edition, we have enlisted the services of Abbey Road
Studios mastering, and lacquer-cutting engineer Miles Showell to
cut a special half-speed master from the audio taken off the
original master tapes. Miles has previously worked on our Arthur
Verocai, Marcos Valle and Ian Carr re-issues, and once again we are
blown away by the richness and clarity of Miles' work. We have also
presented it as a replica copy using the cover artwork and labels
from the primary World Record Co. original version.
On the sleeve notes, Ray Nkwe the producer and the President of the
Jazz Appreciation Society of South Africa writes "This is the LP
that every jazz fan has been waiting for" and Ray was not wrong,
it's a stone-cold timeless jazz classic.
Format & package: LP, special
half-speed master from the audio taken off the original master
tapes.
Record label: Mr. Bongo
Year of release: 2021 (reissued from
1968)
Tracks:
A1 Yakhal' Inkomo
A2 Dedication (To Daddy Trane And Brother Shorter)
B1 Doodlin'
B2 Bessie's Blues
| Specification | Description |
|---|---|
| Weight | 0,3 Kg |
