Movement In The City - 1981 - Black Teardrops

Movement In The City

1981

Black Teardrops

01. Lament 13:32

02. Black Teardrops 07:24

03. Seagull 05:46

04. Camel Walk 13:59

'Pops' M. Ismail - keyboards

Basil Manenberg Coetzee - tenor sax, flute

Robbie Jansen - alto sax, flute

Sipho Gumede - bass guitar

Roger Harry - drums

Flute on "Camel Walk" – Basil Coetzee

Bass on "Camel Walk" – Peter Odendaal

Drums on "Camel Walk" – Monty Weber

1981 South African Soul-Funk-Jazz by the creator of the Black Disco albums. As underground jazz fermented in the social and political powder keg of early-80s South Africa, composer and bandleader Pops Mohamed retired the Black Disco moniker in favour of Movement in the City. The group's second offering under their new name yielded one of the most treasured releases in the As-Shams/The Sun catalogue by way of Black Teardrops, a singular blend of down-tempo and atmospheric South African rare groove featuring Dollar Brand saxophonist Basil "Mannenberg" Coetzee and bass wizard Sipho Gumede.

A really sweet electric set from the South African scene – long tracks that are overflowing with great saxophone and keyboard solos – played here by a really top-shelf group! The sound's a bit like a more relaxed take on territory from CTI – with the keyboards from Pops Ismail at the core, next to electric bass that's nice and slow-stepping from Sipho Gumede – while Basil Manenberg Coetzee solos and tenor, and Robbie Jansen handles both alto and flute! The lineup shifts a bit on one track – with Coetzee shifting to flute, and Ismail picking up some guitar next to the keyboards – but there's a wonderfully unified flow to the record, a warm sweet groove throughout.

Movement In The City - 1979 - Movement In The City

Movement In The City

1979

Movement In The City

01. Mister Lucky 08:54

02. Movement in the City 07:11

03. Country Movement 05:45

04. Jackie 07:17

05. Blue Sunday 04:58

Pops Mohamed - (organ, electric piano, piano)

Basil Coetzee - (saxes)

Sipho Gumede - (bass)

Gilbert Matthews - (drums)

Peter Odendaal - (bass on B3)

Monty Weber - (drums on B3)

As the 1970s were drawing to a close, the epic Black Disco studio project with its signature pairing of drum machine and organ had run its course. After delivering a killer trilogy of cosmic lounge outings dating back to 1975, the group yearned for funkier grooves and the core trio of composer Pops Mohamed on organ with Basil Coetzee on tenor sax and Sipho Gumede on bass decided to hire a drummer and rebrand as Movement in the City.

In contrast with the New Age detachment of Black Disco, Movement in the City was conceptually grounded in the bleak social realism depicted on its photographic album covers and leaned into the vivid sensibilities of library music from the era. Blending Cape jazz with funk and soul, the group's output evokes a soundtrack for South African city life at the outset of the 1980s while nodding allegorically to the subterranean movements that were in the course of shaking the cage for political change.

With its cast of jazz fusion all-stars, Movement in the City is the manifesto of a band in transition - a bold and slick first offering that delivers a modern South African sound capable of both the funky exuberances of "Mister Lucky" as well as the down-home pathos of "Blue Sunday."