Dyani Temiz Feza - "Music For Xaba" (1973)

This is a somewhat odd bird in the collection. I don't have many jazz albums, and even fewer with free jazz, avant-garde jazz, fusion or whatever you want to call this. It's not music that's easily accessible initially. I got the album as a birthday gift from one of my wife's relatives, I thank her for the opportunity to broaden my horizons.

Johnny Dyani and Mongezi Feza come from South Africa but left the country in 1964, Okay Temiz comes from Turkey. They played all around the world with different artists in the 1960s, where the trumpeter Don Cherry (father of Eagle-Eye Cherry and stepfather of Neneh Cherry and Tityo) was a common denominator, as Temiz and Feza were members of The Don Cherry Trio for a number of years. In 1972, the three musicians formed the group Music For Xaba, they rehearsed for a few days and went out on a short tour in Sweden. They had gigs in Uppsala, Örebro and Stockholm. The record is a live recording from one of the concerts in Stockholm, at Teater 9, the 2nd of November 1972.

Dyani plays bass, piano and sings, while Temiz is the drummer and Feza plays trumpet and percussion. Different musical traditions meet in some kind of melting pot within the genre of jazz. There are four songs on the album. The opening song Idyongwana revolves around a drum rhythm in which song in form of  Za la ba la ba is heard on a regular basis. More and more rhythms are added during the course of the song. Here and there Feza plays on a conch, an instrument made of a large sea shell. An unexpected opening of the album. The second track Feelings is more pure free jazz / avant-garde jazz. The trumpet is played at a furious speed accompanied by drums and bass. Sometimes I can't figure out how they relate to each other, but I'm a rather inexperienced jazz listener. It feels like a song that demands a lot of the listener.

Side B opens with the slightly more accessible Traditional South African Songs, which one can say is a medley of different South African songs, with a clear jazz spice. Probably the record's most easily accessible song, which doesn't mean it's top of the pops. The last song Görans Söder brings the listener back to the land of free jazz.

An album that challenges, but also extends the width of the collection. Probably not for everyone, but if you like the free jazz and its creative explosions, it may be something worth checking out. An interesting mix of different musical traditions that meet in the land of jazz. Xaba means God, which Dyani explains in the text on the cover, is love. The trio released a second album in 1980, which I haven't heard.


Tracklist

Side A
1. Idyongwana 8.30
2. Feelings 12.50

Side B
1. Traditional South African Songs 9.33
2. Görans Söder 11.33