Equal Spirits: Wise and Waiting (UBU0157)

Ubuntu Music, in association with ECN Music, is delighted to announce the signing of Equal Spirits, for the release of Wise and Waiting, an extraordinary project led by composer/arranger/multi-instrumentalist Raph Clarkson, which features musicians from London and South Africa.

Equal Spirits brings together a genre-defying mix of South African spiritual jazz, ambient improvised introspection, bursts of old-school hip-hop and electronica, soaring melodies, synths, samples and gospel-infused grooves, woven together with sung and spoken languages from Zulu, Sotho, Yoruba and Xhosa to Arabic and English.

Raph explains: “Equal Spirits was born due to my love of playing South African jazz, experiencing this wonderful contribution to the U.K. scene by exiled South African musicians from the 1950s onwards as I grew up in London. I got the opportunity to travel to South Africa in 2017 to develop my playing and knowledge of this music, and as part of this I wrote a set of music with which I intended to celebrate the connection between and contribution of South African musicians to U.K. jazz and improvised music. This led to the recording of ‘Wise and Waiting’ in 2020 - with an added dimension being my conviction that the new and current generations of South African musicians still of course have so much to offer us and the world, and I am delighted that this album provides a platform for their magnificent and joyful voices and artistry.”

Raph continues, describing the music: “The music of ‘Wise and Waiting’ is enormously varied - plenty is written by me with crucial and beautiful songwriting, spoken word and lyric contributions from Nosihe Zulu and NoZaka. There is also music by bassist Amaeshi Ikechi and a number of tracks that were born out of improvisations in the studio, which were then developed into fully formed compositions under the wise and delicate hand of producer Sonny Johns. Stylistically we move from traditional South African jazz styles, from Mbaqanga to more modern gospel-infused grooves and songs, from Fela Kuti inspired brass to sample-heavy drum and bass feels to English church inspired choral meditations and chants. There are 24 musicians featured across the album and each lends a distinctive creative touch to the patchwork, multi-genre listening experience.”

Raph elaborates on his newly formed relationship with Ubuntu Music: “It is a real thrill and very special to find like-minded creative people who love music and love to support musicians and artists in these kinds of endeavours. I am delighted to be working on this release with Martin and his fantastic team at Ubuntu – Ubuntu, which is the Zulu word for one-ness, for unity, for humanity, sometimes translated as “I am because we are” – a perfect home for this ensemble of Equal Spirits, celebrating the voices of South Africa.”

Martin Hummel, Director of Ubuntu Music, shares his perspective: “This project is a perfect match for Raph and for Ubuntu Music. South African culture runs deep in both of us. I recently spent three years living and working in the country, absorbing the fascinating array eclectic musical strands, which are indigenous to the people and their way of life. Raph has seamlessly brought together musicians from London and from SA to create a unique and compelling blend of spiritual jazz, for all to savour. It’s a pleasure to welcome Raph and his musical partners as new members of the Ubuntu Music Family.”

EQUAL SPIRITS BIOGRAPHY

The Equal Spirits project has its beginnings in Raph Clarkson’s love of South African Township Jazz. With the huge legacy gifted to UK Jazz by South African exiled musicians from the 1960s onwards, British/London jazz of the 2000s and 2010s naturally supported music making inspired by South Africa and South African musicians. Raph found himself playing the music of the SA jazz greats in a variety of ensembles, before developing a connection with SA harmonica and piano player Adam Glasser.

Raph’s interest developed to a point where he wanted to delve deeper, and with the support of funding from Help Musicians UK, developed a project with Adam’s help that led to him touring South Africa in 2018 with three different sets of musicians in Johannesburg, Cape Town and Durban, and for which he wrote a set of original material. Such was the success of this trip, that Raph asked Sonny Johns to produce a recording on a return trip in 2020.

The core rhythm section/ensemble was drawn from the 2018 Johannesburg band, with Nosihe Zulu an audience member for the 2018 Durban gig, who then took on one of the tracks - ‘Skip’ - and wrote her own melody and Zulu lyrics in 2018-19. This led to Raph inviting her to be part of the core 2020 recording.

When it came to the 2020 recording project, there were three essential creative-process threads:

-    fully formed compositions (from 2018) by Raph that gave space for improvisation and creative contributions from the core musicians

-    compositions (from 2018) that became Equal collaborations alongside Nosihe and NoZaka, with the vocalists often contributing melodies and lyrics to Raph’s (and Amaeshi Ikechi’s) instrumental sketches

-    completely democratic group improvisations, that were later edited into structures by Sonny and Raph, and added to with arrangements for and by UK and SA musicians

The 2020 Johannesburg recording took place at Peter Auret’s famed Sumo Studio - and it became just the first step in an organic process of continued editing, mixing, arrangement, further recording and layering, rearrangement, re- editing, re-mixing, etc, over the next year and a half. A series of UK musicians added their creative and instrumental voices to the record, as did core SA band musicians, with Sonny shaping the process towards the album’s final iteration.

UK contributions ranged from a string quartet, an SATB four piece ‘choir’, to sampling/processing by Elliot Galvin, three different percussionists, synths/church organ/Hammond organ, and a horn section including Mark Lockheart and Chris Batchelor (who was part of Chris Macgregor’s Brotherhood of Breath and has toured South Africa with Tete Mbambisa).

At its heart, the Equal Spirits ensemble and Wise and Waiting are creative endeavours that seek to celebrate our shared humanity, our connectedness, and the precious equality of our deepest artistic expressions.