There are no solos in the Maji Maji album, as one would expect from a jazz album. The album is then perhaps an unconscious rebellion, writes Sarah Evans.
As history tells it, “Maji” was a form of spiritual protection afforded to the Matubi people, and later many other tribes in the former German East Africa, as they raged against colonial rule in the early 1900s. The water of the gods, it was called.
That it was administered and imbibed in the context of a rebellion would only occur to Marcus Wyatt, esteemed South African jazz trumpet player and founder of Language 12, after he named the band’s latest album after this potent potion.
But now the concept of rebellion sits comfortably with him. “Maji is the protection. The ‘land of milk and honey’ is here, and I guess we all need protection from various things in the land from time to time,” Wyatt says. Maji Maji in the Land of Milk and Honey, Language 12’s second album, released last week, is an assembly of musical themes. It is a highly unpredictable album, but always clean and melodic.
“This band, perhaps more so than the jazz projects I’m involved in, is a true reflection of who I am as a South African musician,” Wyatt says. “There’s the classic jazz sound but there’s also elements of everything else I’ve ever done in there. The only thing I hope for is for people to listen to this record and be able to say ‘this doesn’t sound like this or that other thing’. Then it means that everything is coming out in a natural way.”
See full story by Sarah Evans in Mail & Guardian
NOTE: Marcus Wyatt will be performing at the Cape Town Fringe – click here for details
PHOTO CREDIT: The beat goes on: Marcus Wyatt and drummer Justin Badenhorst. Photos: Delwyn VerasamyVocal contrast: Rapper MC Gwaza and singer Siya Makuzeni
