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Tommy Flanagan: The Quiet Master of Jazz Piano

Introduction: Tommy Flanagan was a jazz pianist renowned for his refined approach, harmonic sophistication, and lyrical touch. Despite not being as well-known as some of his contemporaries, Flanagan made significant contributions to jazz, inspiring innumerable players and leaving a rich legacy of recordings. In this blog article, we will look at Tommy Flanagan’s life, career, and music, focusing…

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Kirk Lightsey and Rudolph Johnson with the All Stars - Habiba - Outernational Sounds reissue of 1974 spiritual & funky jazz LP from the South African label Gallo Records

Never released outside South Africa, and out of print even there since its original release in 1974, Outernational Sounds presents one of the most sought-after international jazz exclusives ever to appear on South Africa’s famous Gallo imprint – the funky, spiritual and outward bound Habiba.

As the archives of South Africa’s premier record labels steadily give up the treasures that were hidden in the darkness of the apartheid era, the incredible heritage of South African jazz is gradually finding the international audience it always deserved. And while most of the laurels are naturally for South Africa’s own overlooked musicians, the South African discography contains a few sparkling, nearly unknown jazz sessions by visiting players. Habiba is the greatest of them – a raw, impassioned set led by bop pianist Kirk Lightsey, who had been a regular sideman for Chet Baker and Sonny Stitt, and saxophonist Rudolph Johnson, a key player at the storied West Coast indie Black Jazz. Visits to the apartheid state by respected Black musicians were hardly a common occurance during apartheid’s darkest years – so how did a crew of crack American jazz players end up in the Gallo studios?

The story starts with the now almost forgotten crooner, Lovelace Watkins. Sometimes billed as ‘the Black Sinatra’, the Detroit-born Watkins sang standards, show tunes and ballroom classics on the Las Vegas circuit. Though he never made it big in the US, in his 1970s heyday he was a huge star in the UK and in southern Africa, where he toured regularly. In 1974 he hired a jazz big band to accompany him on a tour of South Africa – and among their number were Lightsey and Johnson, as well as Mastersounds bassist Monk Montgomery, West Coast trombonist and Doug Carn sideman Al Hall Jnr., and Marshall Royal, musical director of the Count Basie band. The tour was a huge success, and during downtime from performing, members of Watkin’s group managed to independently record no fewer than three albums. Two of these LPs appeared on the IRC label, billed as the Mallory-Hall Band – the third, which appeared on the more prestigious Gallo, was Lightsey and Johnson’s stunning Habiba.

Three tracks deep, the album is a heavy duty excursion into post-Coltrane spiritual modernism, ranging from the modal, cerebral intensity of the side-long title track ‘Habiba’, to the downhome breakbeat groove of ‘There It Is’, and the dark glitter of minor key waltz ‘Fresh Air’. Long one of the most desired global jazz LPs, and never before available outside South Africa, Habiba is a forgotten masterpiece of its era. With this fully licensed reissue, Outernational Sounds is proud to restore it to its rightful place in the canon of spiritualised modernist jazz. Fully licensed from Gallo Records. Distributed by Honest Jons.