JULY 2021: Having created albums together as Black Disco in the 1970s and Movement in the City in the 1980s, Pops Mohamed and Sipho Gumede returned to the studio yet again in 1990 to record what many believe is Mohamed's most enduring composition. "Kalamazoo" heralded the return of a classic South African jazz sound that distilled marabi and goema and like its forebear, Abdullah Ibrahim's "Mannenberg" from 1974, took inspiration from the streets and its name from a vibrant urban community. The township in Boksburg's Reiger Park neighbourhood is where it was happening and Mohamed captured its vibe with incredible pathos at the outset of a new decade of hope during the turbulent years preceding regime change in South Africa in 1994.
The recording was produced by Mohamed and Gumede, who enlisted the accompaniment of Mzi Khumalo on saxophone and Ian Herman on drums and sought out engineer Felani Gumbi to craft the sound. The session yielded three tracks that occupy Side A of the original 1990 vinyl release from Sun Music. Side B culled archival material from Movement in the City and included a track from Mohamed's 1985 EP Inner City Funk. With this digital release, we present Kalamzoo as just the core EP of new material from 1990. The filler tracks can now be found in their appropriate places in the As-Shams Archive digital catalogue.
In addition to its title track, Kalamazoo includes another tribute to the marabi era by way of "Kort Street Bump Jive," referencing the location of the Kohinoor World of Music and highlighting the store's role as the standard bearer of the jazz community in Johannesburg. The EP is rounded out by a dedication seeped in South African gospel and blues entitled "Song for Emma." Kalamazoo was the inaugural release of a Kalamazoo Productions imprint produced by Mohamed and Gumede for Sun Music Company that includes the albums Evelinah Wami (1990) by the group Jika and Gumede's own Banana City Jive (1991). A series of Kalamazoo follow-up albums emerged from 1999 to 2003 on Sheer Sound and Mohamed has since adopted Kalamazoo Music as the name of own label.
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"I met Basil Coetzee and Sipho Gumede in the mid-70s when we recorded my first LP together entitled Black Disco. Several LPs followed after that, trying to achieve a South African jazz sound that was strong and fresh. Basil and Sipho helped with that sound. We all lived for the music and what we were doing meant a lot to us and our followers. In 1990, Sipho and I got together and discussed the importance of recording yet another LP, which would be "the one." Sipho suggested that we get a very good drummer (Ian Herman from Tananas) and an engineer who would be capable of helping shape the sound. We chose Felani Gumbi. The result was Kalamazoo and it became a huge success. It was named after is a very tiny township at the entrance of Reiger Park in Boksburg (which was a part of my upbringing). The album has been out of print for almost three decades and African jazz lovers from around the country and abroad have been putting pressure on me to reissue it. And now my friends, I have heard you. May this album bring you many years of enjoyment and good memories.
I dedicate this reissue to the following musicians (all now late): Sipho Gumede, Basil "Mannenberg" Coetzeee, Robbie Jansen, Monty Weber and sound engineer Felani Gumbi. My heartfelt thanks to the families of the brothers who we have lost. I would also like to thank Rashid Vally for the role he played in the Kalamazoo series. Ian Herman for his amazing drumming on the album. Mzi Khumalo for playing a very big part on saxophone with his thundering melodies and solos. My family for always being there. Damon Forbes for always pushing me. All my friends on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram for encouraging me not to quit. Radio stations and broadcasters for keeping me relevant. Last but not least, I would like to thank Almighty God for making everything in my life possible, Without Him, there is no me." - Pops Mohamed (from the liner notes to the 2019 CD edition of the complete album on Kalamazoo Music).
