Moholo-Moholo, Louis Unit

An Open Letter to My Wife Mpumi

Label: Ogun Country: UK

"One of the legends of the South African and British jazz scenes, drummer Louis Moholo-Moholo came to London in the mid-1960s, and has been balancing emotional eloquence, township music's energy and an openness to the wildest of jazz/improv freedoms ever since. This flat-out 2008 set finds the drummer in a powerful septet including UK saxists Jason Yarde and Ntshuks Bonga, his regular pianist Pule Pheto and Francine Luce on vocals. The horns adopt that vocal-choir South African sound over Pheto's splashing runs and Moholo-Moholo's hurtling snare patterns. Hymnal songs are intoned with stately imperturbability over the stormy rhythmic seas beneath - and there are grippingly layered originals from Yarde, full of free-blowing tumults and baritone-sax snortings, while his Thank U 4 2 Day introduces a sinewy, pleading lyricism underpinned by Orphy Robinson's vibes. It's a ragged and jam-like studio set with a raucous live feel - but it confirms Moholo-Moholo's presence on the scene as a blast of fresh air."-John Fordham, The Guardian UK