Home » Jazz Articles » Album Review » Roots: Deeper Roots

Roots: Deeper Roots

By Chris May
May 29, 2022
View read count

Originally released in South Africa in 1975, Deeper Roots—reissued in spring 2022 on the Canadian vinyl-only label We Are Busy Bodies—inhabits a place on the instrumental jazz/R&B spectrum akin to that of US label Prestige's juke-box singles of the 1960s by artists such as tenor saxophonist

Gene Ammons

saxophone, tenor
1925 - 1974

" data-original-title="" title="">Gene Ammons (according to label boss Bob Weinstock, Prestige's biggest seller by a country mile).

Roots' guitarist and producer

Almon Memela

guitar

" data-original-title="" title="">Almon Memela takes Ammons' Saturday night recipe—four on the floor grooves, simple melodies and soulful solos which never frighten the horses—and lays the backbeats down even more firmly.

Which is all fine; the music has no pretensions to be anything other than goodtime. But in alto saxophonist

Barney Rachabane

saxophone, alto

" data-original-title="" title="">Barney Rachabane, tenor saxophonist

Duke Makhasa

saxophone, tenor

" data-original-title="" title="">Duke Makhasa and keyboard player

Jabu Nkosi

keyboards
1954 - 1999

" data-original-title="" title="">Jabu Nkosi in particular, Roots has muscular soloists who one cannot help wishing would sometimes be taken off Memela's short lead and allowed to romp off-piste a little. Stand out tracks are "Song For My Baby," on which Nkosi comes on like

Ramsey Lewis

piano
1935 - 2022

" data-original-title="" title="">Ramsey Lewis at his funkiest, and "Don't Cry" and "Deeper Roots" for the saxophones.

At a few seconds over twenty-seven minutes, Deeper Roots' playing time is short. But on its own terms, sweet.

Also reissued by We Are Busy Bodies is Memela's Funky Africa (Gallo, 1975), which opens with a cover of Donny Hathaway and Leroy Hutson's "The Ghetto" (a modest chart hit for Hathaway in 1969), and takes the recipe further down the road towards soul and funk. Again on its own terms, an enjoyable album.

Learn more about our star rating system

Track Listing

Don��t Cry; Deeper Roots; To All My Friends; Steel Man; Song For My Baby; Ubabam Zakes.

Personnel

Almon Memela

guitar

Barney Rachabane

saxophone, alto

Duke Makhasa

saxophone, tenor

Dennis Mghale

trumpet

Jabu Nkosi

keyboards

Sigho Gumede

bass, electric

Peter Mureke

drums

Additional Instrumentation

Jabu Nkosi: organ, piano.

Album information

Title: Deeper Roots | Year Released: 2022 | Record Label: We Are Busy Bodies

PREVIOUS / NEXT

Buddy Rich, Donald Byrd & Eli Degibr...
< Previous

Zodiac
Next >

Support All About Jazz

All About Jazz has been a pillar of jazz since 1995, championing it as an art form and, more importantly, supporting the musicians who make it. Our enduring commitment has made "AAJ" one of the most culturally important websites of its kind, read by hundreds of thousands of fans, musicians and industry figures every month.

Go Ad Free!

To maintain our platform while developing new means to foster jazz discovery and connectivity, we need your help. You can become a sustaining member for as little as $20 and in return, we'll immediately hide those pesky ads plus provide access to future articles for a full year. This winning combination vastly improves your AAJ experience and allow us to vigorously build on the pioneering work we first started in 1995. So enjoy an ad-free AAJ experience and help us remain a positive beacon for jazz by making a donation today.