The Year of the Drum

2014 can easily be dubbed the Year of The Drum in South African jazz. More than any recent years, we saw more and more drum led bands releasing very strong albums. Young and visionary about both the drum as an instrument, they also came out as strong jazz musicians with world class status.

Tumi Mogorosi’s debut album as leader, Project ELO stood out as a notable musical offering that gave a lot of meaning to the year 2014. Mogorosi who had cut his teeth as sideman in a number of bands including the great Herbie Tsoaeli’s African Time Quartet, rode his kit to meteoric heights. His album quickly gained his respect a composer with a wide ranging vision and spiritual depth. His music has the lift of an opera and the warmth of hymns and spirituals. Amid this, he also pushed the envelope for robust jazz drumming. Mogorosi was nominated for a South African Music Award (SAMA), Best Jazz Album category. Project ELO has since been released in Europe, the Americas and Asia, a feature that marked a coup for an unsigned young musician.

 There was also Sisa Sopazi’s debut release. The album titled Images & Figures also received a Best Jazz Album SAMA nomination. Sopazi music distinguished him as a drummer who was steeped in deep local traditions as much as he had a sharp eye on contemporary world class sensibilities. He is just as exciting on a propulsive beat as he is charming on a ballad.

 Another respected drummer in this generation of musicians is Ayanda Sikade. He joined the all star collaboration group that included Swiss duo Baenz Oester on bass and Ganesh Geymeier on saxophone along with local pianist Afrika Mkhize to form the Rain Makers. The album they produced together will go down as a historic moment in the history of jazz partnerships between South African and European jazz musicians.  As the bands keeper on of musical time, Sikade gave some of his life’s most inspired performances here. His sonic pallet is as vast as it is focused.

 Notably out of Cape Town, the jazz world was this year introduced to Claude Cousins Trio. He entered the scene with a refreshing album titled Jubilee Jam and a band that features Clement Jafta on Bass and Kyle Shepherd on keys. Apart from his exciting gifts as a player, the album projected Cousins as a young man with strong opinions about his heritage as a child of the Cape. The history of the Cape, everything from Malay Muslim traditions to the secular ghoema can be heard in every pulse of the music played.

As the year ends with such creative bounty to reflect on, we can’t wait to see what 2015 hold for South Africa’s musical genius. Though we know we have course to be optimistic.