Despite selling hundreds of thousands of copies in its native South Africa, Mankunku Quartet's 1968 album Yakhal Inkomo - the title is a veiled reference to the Apartheid-era violence of the period - has never before been release outside of the African continent. Happily, Jazzman has finally decided to right that wrong. Listening for the first time, it's clear that saxophonist Winston "Mankunku" Ngozi is the undoubted star. Yet his fantastic soloing receives ample back up from his sidemen, including brilliant pianist Lionel Pillay, resulting in a quartet of fine cuts that sit somewhere between hard bop and modal. The album has been likened to Coltrane's A Love Supreme, and we can think of no finer praise than that.

Scratchandsniff, Mukatsuku Records Chart, Lexis (Music Is My Sanctuary), Andrea Passenger