Christopher White was still at school in Auckland, New Zealand, when the English group Moiré Music, led by Trevor Watts, visited and introduced him to Afro-jazz. White later moved to Hastings, built a long career as Van Morrison’s saxophonist and musical director, and then discovered that Watts lived in the same town. He took it as a sign and formed Samaki there, naming the group after the Swahili word for fish.
On “Ek Se Ou Windhoek Toe Nou”, from Samaki’s 2020 album Afronaut, the Hastings group takes on a composition by South African pianist Abdullah Ibrahim. Ibrahim originally recorded the piece in 1983, and it later appeared on Ekaya (Home).
Samaki’s version features Christopher White on tenor saxophone, Rob Leake on baritone saxophone and Joe Auckland on trumpet, with Jim Board on guitar, James Davison on bass and keyboards, Julian Humphries on percussion, and Evan Jenkins on drums. Auckland has spent more than twenty years with Madness and seven with Noel Gallagher’s High Flying Birds, Jenkins has toured and recorded with Ben Watt, Seth Lakeman and Matt Schofield, and White’s own credits include Paul McCartney, Gregory Porter, Mavis Staples and Maceo Parker.
White has described Samaki as a three-piece horn section with a full rhythm section behind it, and the cover is built that way too. The horns play the lead melody while guitar, bass, drums and percussion hold the underlying structure steady.
Stream and listen to Afronaut, which includes “Ek Se Ou Windhoek Toe Nou”, HERE