As-Shams/The Sun Records: 1977

Showing posts with label 1977. Show all posts

MIKE MAKHALEMELE - Greatest Hits 1975-1982

A chronological journey through the early years of South African saxophonist Mike Makhalemele (1938-2000) and a showcase for his five classic albums from the As-Shams Archive catalogue.

Adapting the playlist and artwork of a 1978 compilation issued on the Flame label, Greatest Hits 1975-1982 features remastered tracks from the albums The Peacemaker (1975), The Bull and The Lion (1976), Peaceful Eyes (1976), Walking Spirit (1977) and Blue Mike (1982).

1. Going West 05:02

2. Snowfall 05:25

3. Peaceful Eyes 05:03

4. Walking Spirit (Dancing Soul) 07:36

5. I Remember You (Dedicated to Henry Sithole) 07:46

DIGITAL ALBUM

All Tracks Composed by Mike Makhalemele

Track 1 from the album The Peacemaker (1975):

Tenor Sax – Mike Makhalemele

Recorded by Allan Glen at Satbel Studios

Produced by Mike Makhalemele

Track 2 from the album The Bull and The Lion (1976):

Sax, Voices – Mike Makhalemele, Winston Mankunku Nkozi

Guitar – Trevor Rabin

Piano – Tete Mbambisa

Bass – Ronnie Robot

Drums – Neil Cloud

Recorded by Paul Dobbe at Satbel Studios

Produced by Jo'Burg Records

Track 3 from the album Peaceful Eyes (1976):

Tenor Sax – Mike Makhalemele

Recorded by Tony Butler at Satbel Studios

Produced by Jo'Burg Records

Track 4 from the album Walking Spirit (1977):

Tenor Sax – Mike Makhalemele, Stanley Sithole

Trumpet – Danny Sithole

Keyboards – Jabu Nkosi

Guitar – Paul Petersen

Bass – Tonny Saoli

Drums – Nelson Magwaza

Recorded by Greg Cutler at Satbel Studios

Produced by Julian Laxton

Track 5 from the album Blue Mike (1982):

Tenor Sax – Mike Makhalemele

Piano, Organ – Jabu Nkosi

Bass – Zulu Bidi

Drums, Percussion – Nelson Magwaza

Produced by Rashid Vally

Remastered by Richard Vossgatter

Compiled and Produced by Calum MacNaughton

Cat. No. KRS 204

BATSUMI - Batsumi 77

A primer for the legendary Afro-jazz group Batsumi and a gateway to their two classic albums with edited versions of tracks from the original releases.

Adapting the playlist and artwork of a compilation issued in 1977, Batsumi 77 features remastered tracks from the band's self-titled debut of 1974 and its follow-up Moving Along from 1976. While the 1977 versions of the shortened tracks employed clumsy fade-outs, Batsumi 77 revisits the editing process in 2025 with the precision and creativity offered by modern audio tools.

Batsumi 77 arrives on the cusp of the band's 50th anniversary celebration in 2026 and opens a path to the As-Shams Archive remasters collection The Hunters 1974-1976.

1. Itumeleng (Batsumi 77 Version) 07:47

2. Lishonile (Batsumi 77 Version) 06:01

3. Mamshanyana 04:41

4. Moving Along (Batsumi 77 Version) 05:21

5. Evil Spirits (Batsumi 77 Version) 05:01

6. Toi-Toi 05:33

DIGITAL ALBUM

All Tracks Composed by Batsumi

Tracks 1, 2, 3 originally issued on the album Batsumi (1974)

Tracks 4, 5, 6 originally issued on the album Moving Along (1976)

1, 2, 4, 5 are edited versions of tracks from the original albums

Personnel:

Lekgabe Abel Maleka – Percussion, Drums

Buta-Buta Zwane – Vocals, Bongos

Maswaswe John Mothopeng – Piano, Acoustic Guitar, Vocals

Sello Lancelot Mothopeng – Organ

Themba Koyana – Tenor Sax

Zulu Bidi – Double-Bass

On Tracks 1-3:

Thabang Masemola – Drums, Flute, Jew's Harp

On Tracks 4-6:

Munich Sibiya – Bongos, Vocals on "Toi-Toi"

Peter Segona – Trumpet

Sipho Mabuse – Flute

Remastered by Noah Mintz

Edits by Richard Vossgatter

Compiled and Produced by Calum MacNaughton

(with direction from John Mothopeng)

Cat. No. KRS 203

DENNIS MPALE - Our Boys Are Doing It

By the mid-1970s, trumpeter Dennis Mpale was a consummate musician with an auspicious resume that located him at all the key turning points in the evolution of modern South African jazz. In his mid-20s, he led the trumpet section of Chris McGregor’s Castle Lager Big Band and participated in the ensemble’s landmark 1963 album Jazz/The African Sound. 1968 saw him recording I Remember Nick with The Soul Giants, which joined a wave of notable late-1960s releases, including The Mankunku Quartet’s Yakhal' Inkomo and The Chris Schilder Quintet’s Spring, that ignited the ambitions of South African jazz artists and producers in the 1970s. In 1975, Mpale co-founded the “rock jazz” ensemble Roots, inaugurating the era of jazz fusion in South Africa and opening the door for Pacific Express and Spirits Rejoice.

By 1977, Mpale had earned the right to an album of his own and, having participated in the 1975 recording of Abdullah Ibrahim’s African Herbs, turned to producer Rashid Vally of the As-Shams/The Sun label for his solo debut. Vally financed the project and seized an opportunity to license it to the local subsidiary of a major international label. As such, Our Boys Are Doing It was issued in South Africa on the Mercury label in 1977. Featuring saxophone heavyweight Kippie Moeketsi, the album was a response to the global direction taken by trumpeter Hugh Masekela on The Boy's Doin' It in 1975. In contrast, seeped in the bump jive style of popular urban township music, Our Boys Are Doing It was a manifesto for an authentic, exuberant, homegrown variety of South African jazz.

While solo releases often dispensed with collaborator credits, crediting “the boys” as the album’s backing group pointed towards a collectivist, albeit gendered, conception of South African jazz as a form of cultural production. Mpale was also interested in the title’s veiled reference to the underground armed resistance to Apartheid and he would go on to spend much of the 1980s as a political exile in Botswana. This said, musicians often worked incognito for contractual reasons and producer Rashid Vally himself obscured his involvement on the credits of the Mercury release of Our Boys Are Doing It to avoid any blowback from his regular distributor. While it is believed that “the boys” included the rhythm section of the album Tshona! with Pat Matshikiza on piano, Alec Khaoli on bass and Sipho Mabuse on drums, guitar and additional saxophone contributions remain subject to speculation.

We Are Busy Bodies’ 2025 edition of Our Boys Are Doing It is sourced from the original analog masters and restores the album to its rightful place as an essential part of the As-Shams/The Sun catalogue. This title is the final instalment of a ten-part reissue series that remembers and celebrates beloved figures in the story of South African jazz and honours the passion, work and legacy of label founder Rashid Vally, who passed away in December 2024.

DENNIS MPALE – Trumpet (Leader)

KIPPIE MOKETSI – Alto Sax

AND THE BOYS

All compositions by Dennis Mpale

Artwork by Abdul Kader

Produced by Rashid Vally

Cat. No. SRK897250

BRA SELLO - Butterfly & The Battle of Disco

With one foot planted in jazz and the other in the township groove of mbaqanga, saxophonist Sello Mmutung was a powerful crossover figure in the history of popular music in South Africa. Using the stage name Bra Sello, meaning “brother” and used as a term of affection and respect in the jazz community, he came up in the era of shellac 78s as an exponent of the 1960s sax jive sound that brought the swinging rhythm of kwela into the domain of South African jazz. Despite the injection of American rhythm and blues into South African pop in the late-1960s, Bra Sello’s first releases on vinyl on the CBS label saw him backed by the group Abafana Bentuthuko and holding down an unapologetic township sound.

Joining the independent Soweto label under producer Cambridge Matiwane in the mid-1970s, Bra Sello recorded two platters in the hit-making bump jive style popularised by serious jazz musician Dollar Brand on the one hand and prolific studio group the Movers, operating in funk and soul territory, on the other. Blending modern American and traditional African elements into joyful hip-swinging rhythms, Butterfly (1975) and The Battle of Disco (1977) reflect the vivacity of urban life in South Africa and document an era when dance music was performed by bands as extended jams laced with jaw-dropping solos. With music trends shifting dramatically in the late-1970s, the title of The Battle of Disco was an ironic call to arms in response to the territory that group musicians were beginning to cede to synthesisers and DJs.

Originally issued on the Soweto label

Butterfly (1975) Cat. No. SWA 14014

Composed by S. Mmutung, C.B. Matiwane / Produced by C.B. Matiwane

The Battle of Disco (1977) Cat. No. SWA 14018

Composed by S. Mmutung / Produced by Sello Mmutung

The MOKETSI-MATSHIKIZA Trilogy

Three As-Shams albums from the mid-1970s that trace the interweaving discographies of saxophonist Kippie Moeketsi and pianist Pat Matshikiza. Tshona! was their collaborative effort from 1975, supported by Basil Coetzee on tenor and with Beaters/Harari holding down the rhythm section. Matshikiza would then invite Moeketsi to feature on his solo debut Sikiza Matshikiza in 1976, this time backed by Spirits Rejoice. Matshikiza later pops up on the Harold Baker/Charles Hodges composition "Hang On There" covered on Moeketsi's Blue Stompin' album in 1977. Restored, remastered and reissued in partnership with We Are Busy Bodies.

KIPPIE MOKETSI feat. HAL SINGER - Blue Stompin'

JUNE 2021: Saxophonist Kippie Moeketsi (1925-1983) is a towering figure in South African jazz - a member of the hallowed Jazz Epistles alongside Ibrahim, Masekela and Gwangwa and part of the cast of the Todd Matshikiza's lauded King Kong musical. He is also an integral part of the the As-Shams catalogue as both featured performer and principal artist, often presented in partnership with another figure. Tshona! (1975) is recognised as a South African jazz masterpiece and one of his most enduring As-Shams releases, in which his own compositions are paired with those of pianist Pat Matshikiza. On the title track of his 1977 follow-up Blue Stompin', Moeketsi (using the spelling Moketsi during his tenure with As-Shams) joins American tenorist Hal Singer (1919-2020), revisiting Singer's 1959 composition at the behest of producer Rashid Vally. Seizing the opportunity provided by the Hal Singer Quartet's US State Department sponsored visit to South Africa in the mid-70s, Vally not only solicited a recording of new material (Hal Singer Quartet's Soweto to Harlem) but also engineered this transatlantic collaboration with Moeketsi. In addition to the title track featuring the Hal Singer Quartet, Blue Stompin' is rounded out by three other covers led by Moeketsi with a South African ensemble that demonstrate his prowess as an interpreter of American jazz idioms seeped in R&B, blues and swing. We're delighted to announce a 2021 reissue of Blue Stompin' presented by the skilled restoration team at We Are Busy Bodies, who worked with the original master tapes. This July 2021 release sees the album back on vinyl for the first time since 1977 and honours Singer's passing at the age of 100 last year.

A1. Blue Stompin' (H. Singer) 11:19

A2. Hang On There (H. Baker, C. Hodges) 06:39

B1. Scrap Iron (D. Pearson) 10:53

B2. Yes Baby (K. Burrell) 12:38

Personnel on A1:

Hal Singer – Tenor Sax

Kippie Moketsi – Alto Sax

Oliver Johnson – Drums

August "Gus" Nemeth – Bass

Alain Jean Marie – Piano

Personnel on A2:

Kippie Moketsi – Alto Sax

Duke Makasi – Tenor Sax

Pat Matshikiza – Piano

Sipho Gumede – Bass

Gilbert Matthews – Drums

Personnel on B1 and B2:

Kippie Moketsi – Alto Sax

Barney Rachabane – Alto Sax

Duke Makasi – Tenor Sax

Jabu Nkosi - Piano

Enoch Mthalani – Guitar

Sipho Gumede – Bass

Gilbert Matthews – Drums

Produced by Rashid Vally

Cat. No. GL 1912