Unlearning by Sibusile Xaba
"This music is extraordinary" - Gilles Peterson (BBC 6)
"An astonishing debut from a unique talent" The Guardian
'Unlearning' is one half of the debut double album project by Sibusile Xaba.
A lynchpin in South Africa's new generation of jazz musicians, KwaZulu-Natal-born guitarist and vocalist Sibusile Xaba has all the makings of an acoustic guitar master. With a vocal style that is part dreamscaping and part ancestral invocation, Xaba divines as opposed to plainly singing. Combined with a guitar style that is rooted in expressive picking, Xaba's music shatters the confines of genre, taking only the fundamentals from mentors such as Madala Kunene and Dr Philip Tabane and imbuing these with a mythology and improvisational intensity all of his own.
In 'Unlearning', Xaba fractures the limitations of language, taking scatting to new metaphysical possibilities and subverting the expected roles of the guitar and voice.
Drummer Bonolo Nkoane and upright bass player Ariel Zamonsky add an intelligent rhythmic pulse to the music’s foundations, propelling Xaba’s expressive inclinations to where improvisational instincts are synonymous with urgent political declamations.
While all three musicians are versed in jazz, 'Unlearning' prefigures a sonic world where genre is moot and the modal compensates for the failures of words.
Tracklist
| 1. | Bearer of Seed | 9:08 |
| 2. | I wrote it for Ziare | 11:21 |
| 3. | Empress Lea | 6:33 |
| 4. | Internet Dance | 11:08 |
| 5. | Inkululeko | 9:45 |
| 6. | Sibongile : Tribute to the Mother | 6:23 |
Credits
Mentored by Nduduzo Makhathini
Music received by Sibusile Xaba
Music created by Sibusile Xaba (guitar & vocals), Ariel Zamonsky (upright bass) & Bonolo Nkoane (drums)
Recorded live next to Wilge River in Bronkhorstspruit on 22 August 2015
Recorded by Nduduzo Makhathini & Nelius Zeak
Mixed by Peter Auret
Mastered by Frank Merritt at the Carvery
Artwork & Cover Design by Graeme Arendse
Published by Hour Half Hour Publishing
Lovingly presented to you by Mushroom Hour Half Hour
License
All rights reserved.Recommendations
Promisesby Floating Points, Pharoah Sanders & The London Symphony Orchestra
Universal Beingsby Makaya McCraven
Suite for Max Brownby Jeff Parker
At Pioneer Worksby Les Filles de Illighadad
Irunmoleby Ayetoro
Move (Keep Moving Version)by Seun Kuti & Egypt 80 feat Kamasi Washington
Wisdom of Eldersby Shabaka And The Ancestors
Sibusile Xaba carries forth the Maskandi / Mbaqanga tradition of the KwaZulu Natal midlands, from where he originates. Steeped in the lineage of Zulu guitar giant Madala Kunene (Sibusile’s first mentor) & warrior chants of vocal master, Shaluza Max, he not only owns these influences, but pushes the envelope as only a maestro with a keen ear for the future does.