Gideon Plays

by Gideon Nxumalo

supported by
Anuša Pisanec
Anuša Pisanec thumbnail
squidx
squidx thumbnail
Francisco Fariña
Francisco Fariña thumbnail
mscynthiap
mscynthiap thumbnail
Flurin Casura
Flurin Casura thumbnail
tonybraisby
tonybraisby thumbnail
laiskiainen
laiskiainen thumbnail
Daniel Karrer
Daniel Karrer thumbnail
carasdaddio
carasdaddio thumbnail
bra-robs-66
bra-robs-66 thumbnail
gsw41958
gsw41958 thumbnail
blakeisafan
blakeisafan thumbnail
Jochen Fleeth
Jochen Fleeth thumbnail
jazzcanary
jazzcanary thumbnail
jonathaneato
jonathaneato thumbnail
AfroBase
AfroBase thumbnail
Kelly Klein
Kelly Klein thumbnail
Howard Martin
Howard Martin thumbnail
sbeaupre
sbeaupre thumbnail
Nicholas Sheets
Nicholas Sheets thumbnail
sffilmstagemusic
sffilmstagemusic thumbnail
Mike Allin
Mike Allin thumbnail
Andrew Russell
Andrew Russell thumbnail
kilroy
kilroy thumbnail
mdcorrigall
mdcorrigall thumbnail
j_Laav
j_Laav thumbnail
scott_joel
scott_joel thumbnail
Underlyer
Underlyer thumbnail
Pauly
Pauly thumbnail
Roger Richards
Roger Richards thumbnail
jwayman
jwayman thumbnail
MarkGiam
MarkGiam thumbnail
Kevin ODonnell
Kevin ODonnell thumbnail
noone
noone thumbnail
phillip nerestan
phillip nerestan thumbnail
pj
pj thumbnail
Bruce Mackenzie
Bruce Mackenzie thumbnail
Mr Scruff
Mr Scruff thumbnail
3alexk3
3alexk3 thumbnail
berlihe
berlihe thumbnail
Seton Hawkins
Seton Hawkins thumbnail
jr.dibbs
jr.dibbs thumbnail
bsekou
bsekou thumbnail
emptyl
emptyl thumbnail
David Schlesinger
David Schlesinger thumbnail
David Pelser
David Pelser thumbnail
Hanspeter Zeller
Hanspeter Zeller thumbnail
Ray T
Ray T thumbnail
Ian Hammerton
Ian Hammerton thumbnail
mirivi
mirivi thumbnail
mstudden
mstudden thumbnail
ipchrist
ipchrist thumbnail
beequeen
beequeen thumbnail
pavemalk
pavemalk thumbnail
commander_hoek
commander_hoek thumbnail
Ronald Weinstock
Ronald Weinstock thumbnail
davejanssen
davejanssen thumbnail
modest0
modest0 thumbnail
jazzer3ogun
jazzer3ogun thumbnail
Scott
Scott thumbnail
more...
/

  • Streaming + Download

    Includes unlimited streaming via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.
    Purchasable with gift card

      £6.99 GBP  or more

     

  • Record/Vinyl + Digital Album

    • Reissued with printed inner sleeves containing notes by Francis Gooding of The Wire and archival photography
    • Audio restored, remastered and cut for vinyl by Frank Merritt at The Carvery with heavyweight 180g vinyl pressed at Pallas in Germany

    Includes unlimited streaming of Gideon Plays via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.
    shipping out on or around September 6, 2021
    Purchasable with gift card

      £19.99 GBP

     

  • Full Digital Discography

    18
    releases

    Get all 18 Matsuli Music releases available on Bandcamp and save 50%.

    Includes unlimited streaming via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality downloads of Gideon Plays, African Spaces, Harari, Rufaro, Spring, Jump Uptight, Dudu Phukwana and the "Spears", Mzansi Afro Jazz & Roots - Matsuli Label Sampler, and 10 more. , and , .

    Purchasable with gift card

      £73.92 GBP or more (50% OFF)

     

1.
Dimple 03:22
2.
Welele 04:57
3.
Lonesome Lover 04:33
4.
Coffee Break 04:14
5.
Nto Speaks 03:39
6.
Rondo 02:28
7.
Ingoma - The Song 04:02
8.
Isintu 05:13

about

Gideon Nxumalo’s Gideon Plays might just be the most mythologised and sought-after LP in the whole South African canon. A sophisticated bop excursion with a distinctive African edge, it was only Nxumalo’s second LP as leader, despite his crucial place in South African jazz history.

Pianist Nxumalo was a visionary jazz composer who had recorded regularly during the 1950s, and his 1962 Jazz Fantasia album was the first South African jazz recording to incorporate traditional African musical sources and instruments. But he was also the country’s most significant radio presenter and jazz tastemaker – from 1954 onwards, he had worn the nickname ‘Mgibe’ to introduce ‘This Is Bantu Jazz’, South African radio’s premier jazz show.

But in the aftermath of the Sharpeville Massacre in 1961, Nxumalo had been sidelined from radio play, and was eventually sacked for playing records with political meanings. By 1968, he had not been heard on record or airwave for several years. Gideon Plays was a celebrated return to the studio for one of South Africa’s best loved and most forward-thinking jazzmen, and it showcases Nxumalo’s deep understanding of jazz, his brilliant touch as a composer, and his commitment to bringing South Africa’s indigenous sound into the music.

However, it was released on the tiny JAS Pride label owned by production impresario Ray Nkwe, and after one pressing in 1968, Gideon Plays fell into the undeserved silence that has obscured so much of the South African jazz discography. It has since become a legend: hardly more than a rumour, it has been bootlegged by the unscrupulous, changed hands for eye-watering sums, and has scarcely been heard outside the circles of the most committed South African jazz devotees. It goes without saying that it has never been released outside South Africa, and even now only a handful of original copies are known to have survived.

Over the last ten years, Matsuli Music has been proud to present some of the greatest lost and found jazz recordings in South African history – but we have never presented a rarer, lesser known album than the mighty Gideon ‘Mgibe’ Nxumalo’s Gideon Plays.

credits

released April 12, 2021

license

all rights reserved

tags

about

Matsuli Music image

Matsuli Music UK

classic south african jazz and grooves

contact / help

Contact Matsuli Music

Streaming and
Download help

Shipping and returns

Redeem code

Report this album or account

If you like Gideon Plays, you may also like:

Bandcamp Daily  your guide to the world of Bandcamp

On Bandcamp Radio

Serena Cherry debuts her black metal project, plus a Pick from the Crypt block from Svalbard

 listen now