Home » Jazz Articles » Album Review » Linda Sikhakhane: Iladi

Linda Sikhakhane: Iladi

By Mike Jurkovic
July 16, 2024
View read count

The music of South African saxophonist

Linda Sikhakhane

saxophone, tenor

" data-original-title="" title="">Linda Sikhakhane?does not so much originate from a particular point in time or space or history as much as it expands and accelerates forth from the sub-Sahara's heady mists. Billowing, charging. Seething, soothing. So ease back and let Iladi (a Zulu wisdom ritual) happen. Let the moves of diaspora move you. Let Iladi trace its heritage and bring all listeners home. Let it engulf the room like a fog.

On his first album released jointly by Blue Note Records & Universal Music Africa, Sikhakhane deputizes his frequent collaborator, pianist

Nduduzo Makhathini

keyboards
b.1982

" data-original-title="" title="">Nduduzo Makhathini to produce, resulting in an expansive essence of humor and hope emanating from such titles as "iGosa," "Influential Moments," "Inkehli," and "Umhlahlandela." Guided by Makathini's eloquence and gifted with his rhythmic cohorts—bassist

Zwelakhe-Duma Bell le Pere

bass

" data-original-title="" title="">Zwelakhe-Duma Bell le Pere and?drummer

Kweku Sumbry

drums

" data-original-title="" title="">Kweku Sumbry—Sikhakhane, both in his earthy compositions and playing, proves beyond doubt that he is not only a humble student of the elders but their best voice to carry on the great story.

Approached like a classic Blue Note session, the sound is contemporary vintage bop with a sure sense of global now. Bringing all that he has intuited and learned, his tone deep, emotive, immediate, Sikhakhane flows along with the unrelenting undertow that the trio keeps jacked to ten throughout. Iladi's voice is the voice of everyman: exultant, pained. He speaks directly to and fervently with many of the elders:

Dexter Gordon

saxophone, tenor
1923 - 1990

" data-original-title="" title="">Dexter Gordon, King Curtis,

Eric Dolphy

woodwinds
1928 - 1964

" data-original-title="" title="">Eric Dolphy,

Sonny Rollins

saxophone
b.1930

" data-original-title="" title="">Sonny Rollins. It is a wealth to the ears and a safe place to let the head run free.

Best of all Iladi—its hushed meditations, its insistent blues—is so reassuring and invigorating its replay value is inestimable and invaluable. "Ukukhushulwa" (translation: transcendence) is a literal seance with

John Coltrane

saxophone
1926 - 1967

" data-original-title="" title="">John Coltrane's classic quartet. Moody, evocative, telling. A music lasting beyond this moment. A music existing before it.

Like numerous

Alice Coltrane

piano
1937 - 2007

" data-original-title="" title="">Alice Coltrane invocations, "Umhlahlandela" calls to the guides and the spirits to hear once more the voice of a new people. Makathini is key here: setting the tone of somber conference. Evolving from African folktales, "Idatshana" rides the curative oscillation set down by Sumbry (his vigor infectious) and Bell le Pere's vital dance. "Mama" is, as it should be, a soft ruminative ballad of joyful remembrance. On the heels of the compellingly active "Influential Moments," "Ecako" closes out Iladi on a very high and grateful note.

Learn more about our star rating system

Track Listing

iGosa; Inkehli; Ukukhushulwa; Umhlahlandela; Idatshana; Mama; Influential Moments; Ecako.

Personnel

Linda Sikhakhane

saxophone, tenor

Nduduzo Makhathini

keyboards

Zwelakhe-Duma Bell le Pere

bass

Kweku Sumbry

drums

Additional Instrumentation

Linda Sikhakhane: tenor saxophone (1, 2, 4-8), soprano saxophone (3 ).

Album information

Title: Iladi | Year Released: 2024 | Record Label: Blue Note Records

PREVIOUS / NEXT

Five Views From The Piano Bench
< Previous

A Few of My Favorite 2024 Jazz Thing...
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.