SPAZA — ‘UPRIZE!’ OST
Qobuz new release review
South African jazz collective SPAZA is improvisational in the truest sense of the word. Not only is their music derived from organic, interactive improv sessions, but the lineup itself is constantly in flux; half of the musicians on UPRIZE! did not appear on the group’s debut from last year. While it may seem odd for such an impermanent group to take on the task of soundtracking a film, it turns out that this unconventional approach yields exceptionally effective results. UPRIZE!, a documentary about the uprising in Soweto that, in 1976, intitated what would be the death knell of apartheid, is rooted in the Black Consciousness Movement of the time, a philosophical tenor that resonates throughout SPAZA’s approach to music. Thus, having the collective decide to improvise as footage from the film was projected alongside them gives way to music that is richly evocative and emotionally resonant, but not in the manipulative way that film scores often are. Entwining these improvisations with audio clips from the movie is an inventive approach and the nine tracks here reflect that invention with a surprisingly mellow sound punctuated by moments of tension and catharsis. The structures tend to be a little amorphous, but are still intentional; themes form and grow, only to evolve and dissipate into diaphanous dissonance. Whether the gentle percussion and vocal/piano interplay on “Solomon Tsietsi Khotso” or sparse, dramatic ambience of “We Got a Lot a Work to Do,” the music is intensely and completely connected to the blood, trauma, and eventual victory of the South African anti-apartheid movement, but it carries a unique emotional resonance. © Jason Ferguson/Qobuz
