BirdSong Ensemble - Imvuselelo (2021)

Composer and trumpeter Mandla Mlangeni is a dynamic and ambitious young force in South African jazz and has gained traction internationally via residencies in Germany and Switzerland and as a member of Shabaka & The Ancestors. As a bandleader, Mlangeni nurtures a palette of shapeshifting projects from the Amandla Freedom Ensemble to the Tune Recreation Committee to showcase his compositions at home and abroad.

The BirdSong Ensemble behind Imvuselelo is a formidable Swiss collective and the recording follows Mlangeni's Berlin-based Bird Song Project LP of 2017. Album artwork was created by South African designer Baba Tjeko and the release marks the 2020 revival of the iconic As-Shams/The Sun South African jazz label. The title track and centrepiece of the album "Imvuselelo" means reawakening and is a 3/4 waltz composed in 2014. Imvuselelo is available in a vinyl edition of 300 copies with an expanded digital release featuring an alternate take of "Tau Ya Afrika."

"BirdSong Ensemble reminds me of early Ornette Coleman. Mandla Mlangeni is mean." - Rashid Vally (founder of As-Shams/The Sun)

Trumpet - Mandla Mlangeni
Tenor Sax - Max Treutner
Alto Sax - Benedikt Reising
Trombone - Josephine Nagorsnik
Bass - Oz Yehiely
Drums - Felix Wolf

Tracklist:
1 01. BirdSong Ensemble - No More (01:55)
1 02. BirdSong Ensemble - Homelessness (07:01)
1 03. BirdSong Ensemble - Tau Ya Afrika (04:21)
1 04. BirdSong Ensemble - Imvuselelo (04:18)
1 05. BirdSong Ensemble - Chicken Dust (04:51)
1 06. BirdSong Ensemble - AmaChokolette (10:04)
1 07. BirdSong Ensemble - Tau Ya Afrika II (04:08)