Florian Arbenz
I love Kirk Lightsey! He's a very important person in my musical biography. This album might not be his most famous, but it's the only one you can hear him playing fender rhodes! And you can feel that the guys REALLY had a good time recording this music! So if you want to have some good vibes, go for it.
Favorite track: Habiba.
Switch Groove
If you need to be convinced South Africa is a huge land in jazz world map listen this record! Well done Harv!
Favorite track: Here It Is.
Includes unlimited streaming via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.
Purchasable with gift card
£7GBP or more
Record/Vinyl + Digital Album
Never released outside South Africa, and out of print even there since its original release in 1974, Outernational Sounds presents one of the most sought-after international jazz exclusives ever to appear on South Africa’s famous Gallo imprint – the funky, spiritual and outward bound Habiba.
As the archives of South Africa’s premier record labels steadily give up the treasures that were hidden in the darkness of the apartheid era, the incredible heritage of South African jazz is gradually finding the international audience it always deserved. And while most of the
laurels are naturally for South Africa’s own overlooked musicians, the South African discography contains a few sparkling, nearly unknown jazz sessions by visiting players. Habiba is the greatest of them – a raw, impassioned set led by bop pianist Kirk Lightsey, who had been a regular sideman for Chet Baker and Sonny Stitt, and saxophonist Rudolph
Johnson, a key player at the storied West Coast indie Black Jazz. Visits to the apartheid state by respected Black musicians were hardly a common occurance during apartheid’s darkest years – so how did a crew of crack American jazz players end up in the Gallo studios?
The story starts with the now almost forgotten crooner, Lovelace Watkins. Sometimes billed as ‘the Black Sinatra’, the Detroit-born Watkins sang standards, show tunes and ballroom classics on the Las Vegas circuit. Though he never made it big in the US, in his 1970s heyday he was a huge star in the UK and in southern Africa, where he toured regularly. In 1974 he
hired a jazz big band to accompany him on a tour of South Africa – and among their number were Lightsey and Johnson, as well as Mastersounds bassist Monk Montgomery, West Coast trombonist and Doug Carn sideman Al Hall Jnr., and Marshall Royal, musical director of the
Count Basie band. The tour was a huge success, and during downtime from performing, members of Watkin’s group managed to independently record no fewer than three albums. Two of these LPs appeared on the IRC label, billed as the Mallory-Hall Band – the third, which appeared on the more prestigious Gallo, was Lightsey and Johnson’s stunning Habiba.
Three tracks deep, the album is a heavy duty excursion into post-Coltrane spiritual modernism, ranging from the modal, cerebral intensity of the side-long title track ‘Habiba’, to the downhome breakbeat groove of ‘There It Is’, and the dark glitter of minor key waltz ‘Fresh Air’.
Long one of the most desired global jazz LPs, and never before available outside South Africa, Habiba is a forgotten masterpiece of its era. With this fully licensed reissue, Outernational Sounds is proud to restore it to its rightful place in the canon of spiritualised modernist jazz.
Fully licensed from Gallo Records. Distributed by Honest Jons.
credits
released October 19, 2020
Includes unlimited streaming of Habiba
via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.
...more
Never released outside South Africa, and out of print even there since its original release in 1974, Outernational Sounds presents one of the most sought-after international jazz exclusives ever to appear on South Africa’s famous Gallo imprint – the funky, spiritual and outward bound Habiba.
As the archives of South Africa’s premier record labels steadily give up the treasures that were hidden in the darkness of the apartheid era, the incredible heritage of South African jazz is gradually finding the international audience it always deserved. And while most of the
laurels are naturally for South Africa’s own overlooked musicians, the South African discography contains a few sparkling, nearly unknown jazz sessions by visiting players. Habiba is the greatest of them – a raw, impassioned set led by bop pianist Kirk Lightsey, who had been a regular sideman for Chet Baker and Sonny Stitt, and saxophonist Rudolph
Johnson, a key player at the storied West Coast indie Black Jazz. Visits to the apartheid state by respected Black musicians were hardly a common occurance during apartheid’s darkest years – so how did a crew of crack American jazz players end up in the Gallo studios?
The story starts with the now almost forgotten crooner, Lovelace Watkins. Sometimes billed as ‘the Black Sinatra’, the Detroit-born Watkins sang standards, show tunes and ballroom classics on the Las Vegas circuit. Though he never made it big in the US, in his 1970s heyday he was a huge star in the UK and in southern Africa, where he toured regularly. In 1974 he
hired a jazz big band to accompany him on a tour of South Africa – and among their number were Lightsey and Johnson, as well as Mastersounds bassist Monk Montgomery, West Coast trombonist and Doug Carn sideman Al Hall Jnr., and Marshall Royal, musical director of the
Count Basie band. The tour was a huge success, and during downtime from performing, members of Watkin’s group managed to independently record no fewer than three albums. Two of these LPs appeared on the IRC label, billed as the Mallory-Hall Band – the third, which appeared on the more prestigious Gallo, was Lightsey and Johnson’s stunning Habiba.
Three tracks deep, the album is a heavy duty excursion into post-Coltrane spiritual modernism, ranging from the modal, cerebral intensity of the side-long title track ‘Habiba’, to the downhome breakbeat groove of ‘There It Is’, and the dark glitter of minor key waltz ‘Fresh Air’.
Long one of the most desired global jazz LPs, and never before available outside South Africa, Habiba is a forgotten masterpiece of its era. With this fully licensed reissue, Outernational Sounds is proud to restore it to its rightful place in the canon of spiritualised modernist jazz.
Fully licensed from Gallo Records. Distributed by Honest Jons.
My god, what an absolutely incredible Suite. I'll admit, I've struggled to get into Pharoah Sanders due to diving headfirst into some of his most challenging catalogue and that never worked. This is the perfect place to restart. Floating Points is new for me and I can honestly say I've never heard synthesizer music this lush and organic before. the LSO is just perfect. This is one of those albums that any serious music fan needs in their life. The perfect swan song for the great Pharaoh! 5/5 ClassyMusicSnob
I was brought here after listening to a live performance of Makaya's on you tube. I instantly loved the song Holy Lands so much that I had to see if the album version was the same rendition as the live one. Then I listened to the whole album! Universal Beings is a just a groove... It's a mix of traditional and something new, very nice. pandr1900