Album review: Thokozile Collective (Birnham CD)

Dan Somogyi (keyboards, guitar); Rob Palmer (guitar); Terry Quinney (saxophones); Jack Shaughnessy (bass); Neil Evans (drums) Cheikh Diop (percussion).

There ought to be a law against releasing albums like this at the fag end of summer. It should have come out as the last of the late Easter egg wrappers are going in the recycling and the covers are coming off the soft top XR3s and Golf GTIs ready for the first runs of the year. But we are where we are with 47 minutes of music that should have been top of the playlists as the November rains finally stopped in June.

For the avoidance of doubt this album opens with a run of pinpoint guitar which instantly places it geographically. Infectious foot tapping township jive powered by pointilist guitar and swinging sax make for a brew that adds a swing to every part of the body. Whilst that recipe holds for the first two tracks (Thokozile, Sungura Stomp) it is filed away for future use for third track, Lonely Days, an almost George Benson-ish piece of Californian swing with sax and guitar front and forwards. Hound Cat continues in this mood. It’s smooth and groovy, Steely Dan-ish, with a goodly slice of funk in the recipe, especially when it breaks down to just sax and percussion for a few stark, but energetic bars. Hound Cat evokes those mellow grooves from the mid-seventies when many believed that jazz-funk would take over the world. It’s nice, with fine soloing, especially by Terry Quinney and Rob Palmer, and captures that summer mood perfectly. As does Afro Quests Afro-swing, with Cheikh Diop’s added percussion and Quinney’s wandering soprano solo. Perhaps this would have more impact if the drums really cracked instead of landing with a softer thud. Having said that it understays its welcome.

Diop’s driving percussion and Shaughnessy’s bass return Umtatata more effectively to African roots with the horns chorus providing almost gospel interjections over the rhythm section. Secret Agent is a Tony Allen composition and the godfather of Afrobeat is well served by this version. A ghostly opening leads into a growing storm that climaxes in a full throated, rough voiced tenor solo. This one actually had me up and dancing. Both Secret Agent and the following Laredo 77 benefit from a few extra minutes that allow them to grow. Laredo 77 has a Latin backbeat with a front line of declaiming horns. This is proud music with a subversive, almost threatening undertone. It reminded me of Don Drummond’s Addis Ababa (as re arranged into Journey to Addis by Third World). 

Album closer M’RA is by Dudu Pukwana; an elegant flowing piece with Diop’s percussion filling all the gaps. A solid bass foundation is overlaid with extended, swinging melody lines. This is a rich, joyous mix with the guitar again to the fore. It’s a lovely piece to finish on, uplifting and optimistic.

Even though the kids are back at school, I’ll keep this one handy in case we get an Indian Summer. Dave Sayer