Birdsong Ensemble Imvuseleleo

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."

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

Composed by Mandla Mlangeni
Album Artowork by Baba Tjeko
Recorded in Bern, Switzerland in 2018
Mixed & Mastered by Gavan Eckhart at Soul Fire
Produced for As-Shams by Calum MacNaughton