Despite the contemporary praise for its ‘African authenticity’, on Makhathini’s 2020 Blue Note debut, Modes of Communication: Letters From the Underworlds, contemporary American jazz provided an additional strand that coloured the South African expressionism. In part a product of the ubiquity of jazz education and to an extent, the codification of the music, and in part the way the music had gone anyway in South Africa – certainly when Abdullah Ibrahim returned to perform in South Africa under Nelson Mandela, he lamented how the traditional Township style that the sounds he and players like Kippie Moeketsi pioneered had been lost among younger players keen to follow contemporary American heroes.

With uNomkhubulwane, Makhathini, a graduate of the jazz programme at the University of KwaZulu began by Darius Brubeck, takes a leaf out of Ibrahim’s book and performs as a trio, and returns to the African source. Often featuring his engaging vocal style (with able background support from Bell le Pere and Mela), the resulting album is altogether more authentic than Modes, immediately apparent on the opening track ‘Omnyama.’ Sung over a rhythmic ostinato, his voice, like quiet conversationalist, draws you in, and shocks with falsetto forays that underline the powerful emotions lurking beneath the surface of these songs.

In all there are 11 tracks which support the hyperbole surrounding this remarkable young artist: highlights also include ‘Amanxusa Asemkhathini’, ‘KwaKhangelamankengana’ and ‘Amanzi Ngobhoko’ among them. It's an album of quiet intensity best suited to an intimate jazz club rather than a concert stage in order to work its powerful charm.