Teaspoon And The Waves

★★★ Teaspoon And The Waves MR BONGO. CD/LP

Township jazz-funk-disco. Durban-born alto saxophonist Teaspoon Ndlela came to prominence in Johannesburg in the late ’60s with his Gospel Horn Sound. After playing mbaqanga in the Makgona Tsohle Band and guesting with other prominent acts, he ruled the Joburg jazz-funk scene via a residency at Soweto’s popular Pelican club, his playing leaning on Hank Crawford and Grover Washington. The major draw of this ’77 LP with The Waves is Oh Yeh Soweto, an adaptation of Lamont Dozier’s floorfiller Going Back To My Roots. Teaspoon’s version is a trump card for many a DJ. Tracks like Saturday Express continue the hybrid, its disco beat and township bass line enlivened by throbbing congas, with clavinet and string synth layered on top, while Friday Night and Wind And Fire have slight reggae undercurrents, and Got Me Tight is upbeat jazz-funk with sparkling synth melodies matching Teaspoon’s own. David Katz