Down Lucky's Way

It was only in 2023 that many outside of Johannesburg finally had a chance to hear the three scarce albums that Malombo Jazz Makers, a crucial group of pioneering South African players, cut in the late ’60s. The crown jewel is Down Lucky’s Way, the group’s 1969 outing, a wee hours classic that you could file alongside Sam Cooke’s Night Beat or Grant Green’s Idle Moments.

It foregrounds the deft electric guitar mesmerism of Lucas “Lucky” Ranku, oft-times in murmuring rhythmic interplay with Julian Bahula’s malombo drums. Songs twirl upwards quick as cigarette smoke. Ranku’s tone recalls Jimmy Reed, but his cycling ostinatos conjure Green; he deceptively shifts the rhythmic emphasis in a hypnotizing manner, making the nine minutes of “Bahula Dithabeng” drift past in a delectable haze.