Mankunku Quartet - Yakhal' Inkomo (2021 Mr Bongo Half-Speed Master LP with Obi)

Mankunku Quartet - Yakhal' Inkomo Vinyl LP - 2021 Mr Bongo Half-Speed Master Reissue with Tip-On Sleeve and Obi

One of South African jazz's most revered recordings, Yakhal' Inkomo captures tenor saxophonist Winston "Mankunku" Ngozi leading a quartet through two originals and two covers that together represent South African hard bop and modal jazz at its finest. Recorded on 23 July 1968 at Manley van Niekerk Studios in Johannesburg during apartheid, the session's very existence was an act of resistance, featuring a mixed-race group (pianist Lionel Pillay was of Indian descent) in defiance of apartheid restrictions. The title track "Yakhal' Inkomo" (meaning "the bellow of the bull") served as coded protest that Black audiences understood while escaping government censors. This 22 October 2021 Mr Bongo reissue, licensed from Gallo Record Company and half-speed mastered at Abbey Road Studios by Miles Showell, presents this landmark album in premium audiophile format with tip-on sleeve and obi strip.

Mankunku's playing draws directly from John Coltrane and Wayne Shorter (explicitly acknowledged in "Dedication (To Daddy Trane and Brother Shorter)"), yet the quartet creates a distinctively South African sound through their rhythmic approach and emotional directness. The 12-minute title track builds from meditative beginnings through increasingly intense collective improvisation, Mankunku's tenor crying out with both spiritual yearning and political anger. His original compositions not only hold their own alongside the Horace Silver ("Doodlin'") and John Coltrane ("Bessie's Blues") covers but arguably surpass them, testament to Mankunku's compositional gifts and the quartet's telepathic interaction.