Tutu Puoane, Wrapped in Rhythm Vol 1, SoulFactory Records ****

Produced by Larry Klein, this very stirring and powerful collection of songs from Belgium residing South African singer Tutu Puoane written in collaboration with her husband Belgian pianist Ewout Pierreux is themed around the poetry of Lebo …

Published: 16 Mar 2024. Updated: 40 days.

Produced by Larry Klein, this very stirring and powerful collection of songs from Belgium residing South African singer Tutu Puoane written in collaboration with her husband Belgian pianist Ewout Pierreux is themed around the poetry of Lebo Mashile whose In A Ribbon of Rhythm Puoane has long since found inspirational. Mashile's work tackles themes such as life in the new South Africa and dwells on such issues as the place of women within the societal fabric of the Rainbow Nation. Among the personnel are guest Larry Goldings whose Hammond organ sound pops up perkily on 'Illicit Love'. Puoane's voice lands tonally somewhere between Sibongile Khumalo and Dianne Reeves'. Puoane plays Ronnie Scott's on 30 May

Tags: reviewsalbum of the week

Catherine Sikora, Susan Alcorn, Filament, Relative Pitch ***

We liked Susan Alcorn quintet album Pedernal in 2020. While this duo recording maybe isn't quite as weighty, however, in the case of Catherine Sikora if you are into imaginative players like Rachel Musson, then you will easily appreciate what …

Published: 16 Mar 2024. Updated: 41 days.

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We liked Susan Alcorn quintet album Pedernal in 2020. While this duo recording maybe isn't quite as weighty, however, in the case of Catherine Sikora if you are into imaginative players like Rachel Musson, then you will easily appreciate what Irish saxophonist Sikora is about.

The tracks are if anything too long; but it's free improvisation so some things take and indeed need time. The first of these ''filaments'' is just under a half an hour and the last takes more than 20 minutes. The second at just over 12 minutes is more concise and all the better for that brevity given the impact is even more enjoyable than the longer tracks.

Issuing label Relative Pitch says that this was ''the first ever meeting between Susan Alcorn and Catherine Sikora'' - one would hope that there will be more because pedal steel player Alcorn has such an individual sound and seems to connect on some sort of simpatico level with the reliably dynamic Sikora that is worth documenting.

Susan Alcorn, photo: via Alcorn's Bandcamp page