A private press LP from early-eighties Youngstown, Ohio, featuring an absolutely killer Hammond B3 version of Chameleon, and an exceptionally funky The World Is A Ghetto, showcasing Lavorgna’s soulful saxophone, and more deep funk from David Thomas, on organ.

Infectiously spirited do-over of Horace Andy’s Higher Range. In three parts — vocal, toast, melodica dub.

Quality US roots in extended mixes. More Relation started up in New York in 1977, backing the likes of Larry Marshall and Carlton Coffee.

The pianist’s tenth studio album — the very first release on the newly formed imprint Blue Note Africa — ‘pulls his most foundational cultural Influences into a space where the sounds of the South African landscape are placed at the center of the nation’s evolving jazz songbook. A central figure of the country’s vibrant jazz scene, Makhathini assembled a band consisting of some of South Africa’s most exciting young musicians including saxophonist Linda Sikhakhane, trumpeter Robin Fassie Kock, vibraphonist Dylan Tabisher, bassist Stephen de Souza, percussionist Gontse Makhene, and drummer Dane Paris, as well as guest vocalists Omagugu Makhathini and Anna Widauer, and America saxophonist Jaleel Shaw.’
‘Admirers of Shabaka & The Ancestors will recognise a similarly incantatory vibe. And if that listener is also familiar, as is likely, with Pharoah Sanders and Azar Lawrence (with whom Makhathini has also played), they will hear those resonances, too… traditions, particularly of South African folk and ritual music, play a major part. African America is also in the mix, through Randy Weston and Don Pullen…’ (Chris May, All About Jazz).