Nduduzo Makhathini is the leading figure in the 21st century South African jazz scene. A pianist, educator, producer for other acts, and spiritual healer, he draws from a variety of sources including McCoy Tyner and Bheki Mseleku, but has established his own unique version of spiritual jazz over the course of ten albums. Here, he’s working with younger musicians he has mentored, most notably trumpeter Robin Fassie Kock and saxophonist Linda Sikhakhane, and his wife Omagugu, a frequent presence on his albums, sings on the heartfelt “Mama,” a tribute to her own mother, who died in 2020. Makhathini’s piano style is different here than on his other albums; on the opening “Unonkanyamba,” he embraces a heavily rhythmic approach derived from Randy Weston, with vibraphonist Dylan Tabisher as a second melodic-percussive voice, while on the album’s two-part finale, “Senze’ Nina” and “Ntu,” he’s crashing out chords so heavy one immediately thinks of Matthew Shipp and Andrew Hill.