Most mentions of Nduduzo Makhathini include some combination of the following descriptors: South African, pianist, composer, teacher, healer, visionary and philosopher. That’s a lot to live up to. Yet, as the uninitiated quickly learn, the 42-year-old’s music evokes even more thoughts and feelings: moving, transportive, mystical and unpredictable.
Makhathini’s eleventh album, uNomkhubulwane, surfaced earlier this year, his third effort for jazz mainstays Blue Note Records since 2020. While the collaboration has shined greater light on Makhathini’s work outside his home country, don’t think the jump to the iconic U.S. label has altered his mission — uNomkhubulwane continues to revel in the spiritual and creative approaches of his South African roots. The album title is a reference to the Zulu name of “God’s only daughter and a manifestation of God’s very creation purpose,” Makhathini says in the notes that accompany the release. “She is also believed to be a mythical rain goddess, a regulator of nature, light and fertility.” One need not know the source inspiration to be swept up in the album’s mood-altering grandeur, but it doesn’t hurt.
uNomkhubulwane features 11 songs in just over an hour and is broken into three suites: “Libations,” “Water Spirits” and “Inner Attainment.” Album opener “Omnyama” intrigues from the get-go, as Makhathini’s fragile, spoken-word vocals intermingle with a simple piano pattern before drums and bass join, eventually enveloping the listener in a cascading swirl of sounds that nevertheless remain locked in circular groove. Produced by Blue Note label president Don Was, uNomkhubulwane finds Makhathini joined by Cuban drummer Francisco Mela and American (by way of South Africa) bassist Zwelakhe-Duma Bell le Pere, a telepathic trio that recalls any number of jazz luminaries while simultaneously blazing their own creative trail.
“The keyword here is collective memory,” Makhathini said of the unit’s improvisational nature in a recent interview with It’s Psychedelic Baby Magazine. “As a trio, we are constantly seeking to locate the ‘mother song’ — this is a song of being that connects us to ‘uNomkhubulwane.’ For the most part, I bring in the thematic and compositional material, and the band responds from a place of intuition, informed by our different cultural musical libraries that are always related.”
uNomkhubulwane’s origins might be conceptionally complex, but the results are as accessible and essential as a tall glass of water.
Nduduzo Makhathini plays two shows at Caffè Vivace on Nov. 13 at 7 p.m. and 9:30 p.m. More info: jazzvivace.org.
This article appears in Oct 30 – Nov 12, 2024.