Makhathini infuses an impetuous and majestic Afro-centric pulse on the opener, “Unonkanyamba”. The laid-back posture of the horn players against this rhythmic verve creates an infectious polyrhythmic feel. Gliding atop the texture, the soloists succeed one another. The confident tenorist Linda Sikhakhane is followed by Makhatini, whose taste in the note choices is both disconcerting and beautiful, and then by trumpeter Robin Fassie Kock, who invites us to search while posing as narratively sober. “Amathongo” is motivated by Zulu traditions, a component that is not so strange if we take into consideration that the bandleader’s hometown was a Zulu kingdom. The bass figure that drives the piece is renewed at every 16-beat cycle, having a shimmering stream of percussion echoing throughout.