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PRICE:
$34.00
$34.00
IN STOCK
ARTIST
BRA SELLO
TITLE
Butterfly
FORMAT
LP
LABEL
AFRODELIC
CATALOG #
AF 1006LP
AF 1006LP
GENRE
JAZZ
RELEASE DATE
9/29/2023
With one foot planted in jazz and the other in the township groove of Mbaqanga, saxophonist
Sello Mmutung
was a powerful crossover figure in the history of popular music in South Africa. Using the stage name
Bra Sello
, meaning "brother" and used as a term of affection and respect in the jazz community, he came up in the era of shellac 78s as an exponent of the 1960s sax jive sound that brought the swinging rhythm of kwela into the domain of South African jazz. Despite the injection of American rhythm and blues into South African pop in the late-1960s, Bra Sello's first releases on vinyl on the CBS label saw him backed by the group
Abafana Bentuthuko
and holding down an unapologetic township sound. Joining the independent Soweto label under producer
Cambridge Matiwane
in the mid-1970s, Bra Sello recorded two records in the hit-making bump jive style popularized by serious jazz musician
Dollar Brand
on the one hand and prolific studio group the
Movers
, operating in funk and soul territory, on the other. Blending modern American and traditional African elements into joyful hip-swinging rhythms,
Butterfly
(1975) and
The Battle of Disco
(1977) reflect the vivacity of urban life in South Africa and document an era when dance music was performed by bands as extended jams laced with jaw-dropping solos. With music trends shifting dramatically in the late-1970s, the title of
The Battle of Disco
was an ironic call to arms in response to the territory that group musicians were beginning to cede to synthesizers and DJs. For enthusiasts of African music from the 1970s, a full appreciation of the continent's output is incomplete without South Africa's pop-jazz sound providing a regional counterpoint to the funk experimentation of West Africa. Reissued for the very first time, Bra Sello returns in 2023 with limited replica editions from Afrodelic using master tape sources from the As-Shams/The Sun collection. Afrodelic's unique edition of
Butterfly
features a previously unreleased track on Side B.
Other releases on AFRODELIC
Other releases by BRA SELLO