Assembling unreleased recordings from 1979 and 1980, Shrimp Boats is a
South African jazz archival compilation from 1987 built around its
epic side-long title track featuring saxophonist Basil "Mannenberg"
Coetzee. The recording was made during pianist Lionel Pillay's
November 1979 session with Coetzee for the As-Shams/The Sun album Plum
and Cherry. Side Two is composed of material recorded in September
1980 from the session for Lionel Pillay's Deeper in Black album. The
1951 pop standard "Shrimp Boats" was first given its unlikely jazz
arrangement by Abdullah Ibrahim (recording as Dollar Brand) in 1971.
Pillay and Coetzee take this seed of an arrangement to its furthest
reaches with their mesmerising performance here. Although the title track
casts a big shadow, Pillay's "Slow Blues for Orial" is a welcome
original composition on the flip side that stands proudly next to a
rare 1970s cover of Winston "Mankunku" Ngozi's "Yakhal 'Inkomo"
(Pillay was the pianist on Mankunku's original 1968 recording)
featuring saxophonists Barney Rachabane and Duke Makasi. The set
closes with a nod to the contemporaneous jazz fusion scene with a take
on Weather Report's "Birdland" from 1977.
Personnel on A1:
Lionel Pillay - Piano
Basil Coetzee - Tenor Sax
Stompie Manana - Trumpet
Charles Johnstone - Bass
Rod Clark - Drums
• Recorded 12 November 1979
Personnel on B1, B2, B3*:
Lionel Pillay - Piano
Barney Rachabane - Alto Sax
Duku Makasi - Tenor Sax
Sipho Gumede - Bass
Gilbert Mathews - Drums
• Recorded 29 September 1980
* Based on first-hand testimony provided to jazz journalist Gwen Ansell, Robbie Jansen plays alto sax on "Birdland" in place of Barney Rachabane. The uncredited guitarist on the track is possibly Russel Herman or Jethro Butow.
* Update: Robbie Jansen confirmed on alto sax on "Birdland" (taken from an unreleased session by Lionel Pillay dated 9 October 1981).
Produced and Compiled by Rashid Vally
Original Released in 1987 on the MANDLA imprint
Cat. No. MANDLA 001
℗ 1979 ℗ 1980 © 2022 As-Shams/The Sun
