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Tumi Mogorosi: Group Theory: Black Music

By Chris May
June 24, 2022
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Tumi Mogorosi: Group Theory: Black Music

In summer 2022, the portents suggest that South Africa, while not exactly the new London, is shaping up nicely to become another geo-cultural crucible for the reforging of jazz. Prominent among the signs is the formation of Blue Note's imprint Blue Note Africa, which launched in mid June with pianist

Nduduzo Makhathini

keyboards
b.1982

" data-original-title="" title="">Nduduzo Makhathini's highly recommended In The Spirit Of Ntu. A surge of classic township-jazz reissues on independent British and North American labels also suggests something is in the air.

There are strong links between the new London and South African scenes. London-based tenor saxophonist and clarinetist

Shabaka Hutchings

woodwinds

" data-original-title="" title="">Shabaka Hutchings has recorded two albums as leader of the otherwise South African band

Shabaka & the Ancestors

" data-original-title="" title="">Shabaka & the Ancestors , and Makhathini and Hutchings have guested on each other's albums. In 2020, London's Brownswood label released the various artists' sampler Indaba Is, which showcased up and coming South African bands including The Ancestors.

Now comes

Tumi Mogorosi

drums

" data-original-title="" title="">Tumi Mogorosi's Group Theory: Black Music, a joint release by South Africa's Mushroom Hour and London's New Soil labels. Drummer and composer Mogorosi, whose high-impact playing has echoes of both

Elvin Jones

drums
1927 - 2004

" data-original-title="" title="">Elvin Jones and

Louis Moholo-Moholo

drums
1940 - 2025

" data-original-title="" title="">Louis Moholo-Moholo, is a member of The Ancestors and South African noiseniks The Wretched, who were also featured on Indaba Is. Mogorosi's core group includes another member of The Ancestors, alto saxophonist

Mthunzi Mvubu

saxophone, alto

" data-original-title="" title="">Mthunzi Mvubu. The pair are joined by trumpeter

Tumi Pheko

trumpet

" data-original-title="" title="">Tumi Pheko, guitarist

Reza Khota

guitar, electric

" data-original-title="" title="">Reza Khota and double bassist

Dalisu Ndlazi

bass, acoustic

" data-original-title="" title="">Dalisu Ndlazi. The quintet, which is augmented on four tracks by pianist

Andile Yenana

piano
b.1968

" data-original-title="" title="">Andile Yenana, has a raw, gritty sound which embraces South Africa's township-jazz heritage and also that of African American spiritual jazz.

So far, so nutritious. But what takes Group Theory: Black Music into its own space is Mogorosi's use of chorale vocals. A powerful choir provides wide-screen soundscapes on all eleven tracks; two of these also feature solo vocalists Siya Mthembu and Gabi Motuba delivering, respectively, male and female reinventions of the American spiritual "Sometimes I Feel Like A Motherless Child." Chorale vocals are in themselves no stranger to jazz, with

Max Roach

drums
1925 - 2007

" data-original-title="" title="">Max Roach's It's Time (Impulse, 1962),

Andrew Hill

piano
1931 - 2007

" data-original-title="" title="">Andrew Hill's Lift Every Voice (Blue Note, 1970) and

Billy Harper

saxophone
b.1943

" data-original-title="" title="">Billy Harper's Capra Black (Strata-East, 1973) being just three distinguished examples. And chorale vocals are long established in South African jazz as well. Composer Todd Matshikiza's seminal South African jazz opera King Kong made that connection back in 1960.

The vibe of Group Theory: Black Music is, however, altogether heavier than that of King Kong. Portentous going on apocalyptic is more the measure of it. Check the YouTube clip below for the indicative "The Fall," the first single pull.

In the press material accompanying the album, Mogorosi—who used chorale vocals on his debut album, Project ELO (Jazzman, 2014)—writes perceptively about their social and cultural import. Bottom line: he uses them to express the idea of mass, of community, the gathering together of people, and the concomitant political implications. The community Mogorosi has in mind is the global African diaspora—and the direction he believes that it needs to take is mapped out neatly on poet/rapper Lesego Rampolokeng's spitting-fire closer, "Where Are The Keys?"

As Jamaica's Rastafarians were wont to say back in the day when confronted with something weighty such as Culture's "Two Sevens Clash" single, "It dread." Group Theory: Black Music is well dread.

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Track Listing

Wadada; The Fall; Panic Manic; 3.15 (Where It's Darkest); Sometimes I Feel Like A Motherless Child; Walk With Me; At The Limit Of The Speakable; Mmama; Thaba Bosiu; Sometimes I Feel Like A Motherless Child; Where Are The Keys?

Personnel

Tumi Mogorosi

drums

Tumi Pheko

trumpet

Mthunzi Mvubu

saxophone, alto

Reza Khota

guitar, electric

Dalisu Ndlazi

bass, acoustic

Additional Instrumentation

Andile Yenana: piano (4, 5, 9, 11); Siya Mthembu: vocals (5); Gabi Motuba: vocals (10); Lesego Rampolokeng: vocals (track 11); Personnel unknown: choir (1-11), conductor Themba Maseko.

Album information

Title: Group Theory: Black Music | Year Released: 2022 | Record Label: Mushroom Hour / New Soil

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