Andile Yenana

Business Day: 15 September 2005
By Gwen Ansell

Three years is too long to have waited for a second album from Andile Yenana. When the pianist¹s We Used To Dance appeared in 2002, it picked up the torch of the particularly intense post-bop jazz mood found here in the 1970s and 1980s: music that was both soulful and fiercely intelligent.
What We Used To Dance was not, however, was a showcase for the pianist’s compelling technical skill. It was a richly-textured and slightly nostalgic ensemble album. Working together is an important part of the jazz process for Yenana, and that showed in both open arrangements and compositions drawn not only from his own work but from band-mates and the canon created by South Africans in exile.
His new album, Who’s Got The Map?, is equally rich and equally democratic in its use of songs and arrangements, but thankfully offers a lot more space for us to hear the piano breathing.
Yenana’s team includes old colleagues such as reedman Sydney Mnisi and drummer Morabo Morajele alongside new collaborators including bassist Jimmy Mngwandi and trumpeter Sydney Mavundla and alongside Yenana’s originals features one composition from Mnisi and one from multi-instrumentalist Sazi Dlamini: Umunyu, a big-band ballad redolent with memories of the Cold Castle era.
But nostalgia is not the dominant mood of this album.
Who’s Got The Map? is altogether an edgier affair. There are percussive passages where stride morphs into intricate, hop-step dance, lyrical moments that explore the beauty of discord as well as harmony, and minimalist melodies hypnotically varied and spun around. The legacy of Monk is clearly here but many of these musical characteristics are equally present in Xhosa tradition, and taking joy in exploring them is something Yenana shares with another Eastern Cape pianist, the late Chris McGregor.
Most tracks have a least a faint, haunting flavour of the blues, but in unexpected ways: in mood, in allusion (as in the memorial track, Mr Harris) or just in the minor-key bend of an elegant phrase; the way an early Twentieth Century classical composer like Debussy might nod to the new sounds from the Americas. In his solo, South Central, Yenana gives record-buyers a slice of how he really sounds live: imaginative, technically impressive and moving.
After what, so far, has been a lean year for jazz releases, Who’s Got The Map? is a world-class assertion of South Africa’s and Yenana’s own original voice
- Business Day - Gwen Ansell

Sowetan
Yenana’s got it mapped out
by Tiisetso Makube
04 November 2005

Here we go again. I’m stirring up a hornets’ nest, but what the heck.

Andile Yenana. Several years ago I had what someone called the temerity, the sheer devil-may-care pluck, to suggest that history may one day judge Yenana to have been better pianist than Abdullah Ibrahim.

Boy, can you imagine the excoriation that followed? But then, that’s the South African mentality. We deify here, making some people simply untouchable.

How can that be right? But please don’t get me wrong. I don’t think any less of Ibrahim’s art.

Many tears ago, for instance, the American jazz community was hit by a phenomenon called Clifford Brown, that beautiful, graceful and magnificent trumpeter. Miles Davis had come into his own by then and everybody wanted to play like Dizzy Gillespie. But then this young man, Clifford Brown arrived and, as anyone who ever heard him will tell you, he could blow. When he died at a tender age people wept.

“Will we ever hear the trumpet played like that gain?” they wondered. Brown was only 25 when died. He had so much more to contribute to the world of jazz, but his people dared to place him on the same pedestal as Dizzy and Miles.

The irony of course is that I made the same kind of statement about Yenana and Ibrahim.

As if daring us to confront the question, Yenana asks with his second album: Who’s Got the Map?

In truth though, the map is burnt in Yenana’s brain.
Who’s Got the Map? Yenana, if anyone, it’s you who has earned the right to give directions.
This album, its sheer splendour, the breathtaking vistas to which it takes us, its lyricism, its capacity to awe and summon from the depths of our viscera such pure and joyous laughter. Man, that is the way.

Have you ever been to Rwanda? South Central? Do you know what Sydney’s Etude means to Yenana? Do yourself a favour and get a copy of this album.

If you thought you knew Yenana from his playing with saxophonist Zim Ngqawana, then, my friend, be ready to hear magic, for this is the stuff of wizards.

Yenana is a virtuoso and he understands the charming art of understatement, which, with sidemen such as Morabo Morajele on Drums, Sydney Mnisi on tenor sax, Sydney Mavundla on trumpet and Jimmy Mngwandi on bass, becomes something to be marvelled at.

Andile Yenana, you’ve got the map. We hear your voice, in all its glory, loud and clear.

- Sowetan - Tiisetso Makube

By Brian Hough: October 16, 2005

Andile Yenana - Who's Got The Map? SSCD120

I was fortunate to be invited to the launch of Andile Yenana's second CD, Who's Got The Map? Yenana is well known as the pianist with both Voice and Zim Ngqawana's band/orchestra. The young man from King William's Town is a self-effacing and introverted individual, but let him do his thing, as he did at the launch, and the piano becomes his slave.

His touch is sometimes so light as to be hardly heard, and then in the next number he takes off like some Stravinsky Firebird. When in a quiet mood, Yenana's musicians play together almost reverently. They are all in sync with each other and communicate silently.

When Yenana lets loose, the energy is palpable and all on stage are energised to blow the audience away. Saxophonist Sydney Mnisi appears to levitate as he wrenches every last minor key out of his instrument.

Trumpeter (and flugelhorn) Sydney Mavundla had the audience in the palms of his hands during the more thoughtful numbers, and screaming and stomping when his solos took flight on the upbeat numbers. Bassist Jimmy Mngwandi was a solid as the proverbial rock, and his solos, although muted compared with the other musos, proved his mastery of an instrument taller than him. Completing the quintet is drummer Clement Benny who drove the group relentlessly and appeared to have some directing capacity.

The CD is a complex mix of African rhythms, influences from US musicians such as Miles Davis and Thelonious Monk, and essential modern jazz.

Once again I have to congratulate Sheer Sound on putting their money where their mouth is. They really are dedicated to promoting local talent, and this energy combined with excellent recording facilities provide albums of the highest quality.
- Sunday Independent Newspaper

By Nil Jacobson:11 November 2005

South African pianist Andile Yenana first attracted attention as a sideman on Zim Ngqawana's early recordings, where his McCoy Tyner-ish playing served as a perfect complement to Ngqawana's Coltrane-like energy. In 2002 Sheer Sound released his debut, We Used to Dance, which drew upon these themes. But it would be a mistake to categorize Yenana as a modal player locked in that mold, because he's capable of much more. His followup, the mostly quintet album Who's Got the Map?, offers plenty of evidence.

Witness the Monkish clusters and irregular comping on the opening “Pedal Point,” which centers around a harmonized theme by the horns (saxophonist Sydney Mnisi and trumpeter Sydney Mavudla) until Yenana steps out on his own into a swirling, syncopated, swinging solo statement. The pianist is at his best when he experiments with time and dynamics, introducing a heavy dose of punchy angularity into otherwise straightforward music. The loping funk of “Mr. Harris,” which appears later on the album, has a similar effect.

There's not a lot of ego on Who's Got the Map?, because in many places the horns and the rhythm section lock together quite tightly. Yenana did compose all the pieces except Sydney Mnisi's two “Etudes” and Sazi Dlamini's “Umunyu,” but his writing serves the group sound. “Dream Walker,” a slow, shimmering tune, swings lightly and draws quiet energy from Mavudla's warm, smeary trumpet and Mnisi's rough-edged, blues-tinged saxophone.

The title of this release is much more of a question than can be answered in 68 minutes of music. South African jazz has developed its own distinct character, perhaps most visible as a distinct entity here on the patient harmonized cycles of “Rwanda,” but it's always drawn from sources across the Atlantic and north of the equator.

Andile Yenana does not hesitate to leap right into traditional hard bop and modal playing, though he does stretch the mold at times and plays in an unusually polyphonic fashion. The solo piano piece “South Central” draws from the watery, impressionistic sound of Debussy and Ravel in its heavy pedaling, blurred phrases, and extended arpeggios, but Yenana's harmonies are less than pristine and his timing is sometimes quite unpredictable.

- All About Jazz- Nil Jacobson

By Seton Hawkins: 23 October 2005

The odd title of pianist Andile Yenana’s second album as a leader, as he writes, “depicts the space I am in—call it my voice, expression, interpretation of a reality transformed into compositions.” While that's a mouthful, the album succeeds in this respect.

A disheartening trend in some South African jazz is a common desire to fashion a “global village” sound: so many styles are referenced and used that the result becomes impersonal. Yenana never succumbs to such problems. His roots are always evident—his comping evokes McCoy Tyner; his compositions show the influence of John Coltrane, Thelonious Monk, and Abdullah Ibrahim; and his solos often recall the simple, lyrical beauty of another great South African pianist, Pat Matshikiza. However, as he amply demonstrates on this album, Yenana is more than the sum of his influences. While he may stretch his horizons and try new styles, the album is unmistakably in his own voice, and it boasts a rare coherence in form and style.

While every piece on this album is excellent, several stand out. “South Central” and “Pillar to Post” are gorgeous solo piano outings in which Yenana showcases his singing melodic lines and his subtle, shifting harmonies, even exploring new timbres by strumming directly on the piano strings. “Mr. Harris” is a greasy funk outing that highlights the trumpet work of Sydney Mavudla, whose slurry, note-bending, relaxed sound is pitch-perfect. Finally, “Sydney’s Etude 2,” composed by the album’s saxophonist, Sydney Mnisi, is the sort of track that John Coltrane would have recorded had he been South African. Mnisi’s hard metallic tone, restless solos, and saxophone cries speak strongly of Coltrane’s influence.

Particular praise must be given to the album’s drummers, Clemment Benny (”Pedal Point” and “Mr. Harris”) and Marobo Morjele (all other tracks). They lay down dense, driving beats that literally blast Yenana’s music forward. The combination of this drumming with Yenana’s free-flowing comping and the horns entering and exiting on weak beats endows a rhythmic flexibility to the tracks that is at times jarring, but highly impressive.

Given Yenana’s past work—eg. his recordings with Zim Ngqawana and his own 2002 debut, We Used to Dance—Who’s Got the Map? has a lot to live up to. However, Yenana is not one for complacency, and his restless exploration of his musical vision has resulted in one of 2005’s best albums.
- All About Jazz- Seton Hawkins

We Used To Dance
Andile Yenana | Sheer Sound
11 May 2002

By Nils Jacobson

From its very first notes, pianist Andile Yenana's debut record flows with song. The opener, “Wicked Whispers” (a highly ironic title), introduces all four members of his quartet in a lyrical chorus soaring above gentle swing. Yenana's stated intent with this record is to fuse the sonorities of jazz with the culture and ritual of South Africa. His musical heroes (Winston Mankunku, Abdullah Ibrahim, Chris McGregor, Hugh Masekela, and Zim Ngqawana) represent the high points of this sort of cross-cultural fertilization, and he does them justice on We Used To Dance.

Yenana's efforts as Zim Ngqawana's pianist of choice showcased his abilities to keep a group grounded, and one might have expected from this earlier work that he would invade and dwell in the space opened up by McCoy Tyner. That he does with fluency and elegance, but We Used To Dance features an equal abundance of surprises.

Listening to this record, one has the sense that there simply wasn't enough time for Yenana to express all he had to say. The tunes cover a wide range of tone and style, from the Bill Evans-meets-gospel sound of “No Lights” to the intimate rhythmic textures of “Mhlekazi's Dance” and the carefree swing of Dudu Pukwana's “Blues for Nick.” Influences from Herbie Hancock and Randy Weston (as well as the obvious antecedent, Abdullah Ibrahim) appear scattered throughout.

Feya Faku's work on trumpet and flugelhorn display a versatility and restraint that emphasizes color over flash, melody over showmanship—and his clarity of vision serves Yenana's ensemble sound well. The pianist does well within solo and trio contexts, but when he brings in the horns he enables a richness of texture and warmth only possible through human breath.

The fact that an articulate musician like Andile Yenana could turn out a record with this degree of cohesion should come as little surprise to those who are familiar with his approach to music. When you listen closely to his piano playing, you can pick up vocalizations of the melody, drawing attention to his unstated contention that the human voice is the beginning and the end of sound.

For Yenana, every note on the keyboard is a swirl in the air, an exclamation of joi d'vivre. While much of this material may be downtempo, that fact does not mean it lacks energy. We Used To Dance may at times convey melancholy, but never does it lose its sense of celebration. Some times it takes music like this to remind us why we're alive.
- All About Jazz- Nils Jacobson