AFRICAN TRIBUTES

Darius Brubeck and the NU Jazz Connection

The common link between the members of the Nu Jazz Connection is their association with the University of Natal, Durban, where Darius Brubeck is the Director of its Centre for Jazz and Popular Music as well as being Associate Professor in the Music Department. The aim of Darius and fellow lecturer Chris Merz is to fuse the music of South Africa's townships with America's modern jazz tradition.

Nu Jazz Connection's particular quest is to take the traditional music of Southern Africa and reinterpret it in a modern idiom, using the very best musicians available. As such, 'African Tributes' is a precious piece of South African heritage in the making.

The band's reading of Winston 'Mankunku' Ngozi's 'Yakhal Inkomo' breathes fresh life into the 1964 hit, which started the US/African jazz crossover by integrating the sax sound of Coltrane into a South African framework. More
startling still is the introduction to 'Amabutho' which takes the traditional vocal chant warning of an imminent attack on the village and blends it with a jazz arrangement of guitarist Cyril Magubane's modern piece.

'Insingizi' is another traditional Zulu song reinterpreted for today's audience. Elsewhere the 'township' or 'Mbaqanga' style of fifties South Africa is reprised in the number 'Zukile'. The title track, 'Tributes', composed by former NU student Mtshali is a beautifully sad piece, dedicated to an African pianist who introduced him to jazz before he died. It is also a tribute to the ordinary people who suffered in his home town of Umlazi near Durban.

Track Listing (30 Second Samples) 

1 Emalukazi
2 Yakhal' Inkomo
3 Insingizi
4 Mannenberg-The Wedding
5 Amabutho
6 Zukile
7 Nytilo Ntyilo
8 Meadowlands
9 Tributes