Tropical Diaspora Records® presents
Second Press of Acclaimed Album Oratorio of a Forgotten Youth – the multidisciplinary collaborative performance is the echo of the 1976 youth resistance and enthusiastic chant for change.
by Amandla Freedom Ensemble
Tropical Diaspora Records® Africa on Vinyl Collectors Series
Second press presented by Tropical Diaspora Records®
[Johannesburg/Cape Town, São Paulo/Berlin 2025] – Amandla Freedom Ensemble & Mandla Mlangeni Unveil Lost Chapter of Oratorio of a Forgotten Youth: “Homelessness”
In an electrifying archival revelation, Amandla Freedom Ensemble and visionary trumpeter Mandla Mlangeni release “Homelessness”—a previously unheard track from the seminal Oratorio of a Forgotten Youth sessions. Recorded in 2019 but omitted from the original pressing, this sonic manifesto now emerges as a harrowing bridge between jazz, poetry, and protest, amplifying the album’s reckoning with South Africa’s unhealed wounds.
Following overwhelming demand, the Amandla Freedom Ensemble, under the visionary leadership of trumpeter and composer Mandla Mlangeni, is thrilled to announce a second press of their groundbreaking 2023 album, Oratorio of a Forgotten Youth. This release reaffirms the album’s status as a vital work fusing jazz, Afro-jazz, classical, and indigenous traditions, while echoing the struggles and resilience of South Africa’s youth movements.
Formed as a dynamic gathering of young, innovative musicians, the ensemble serves as a living bridge between generations, engaging in profound artistic dialogues with jazz elders and indigenous music custodians. Their work pulses with the spirit of collaboration, whether through explosive performances with living legends or cutting-edge workshops that nurture the next wave of composers and arrangers.
At its core, the Amandla Freedom Ensemble is a musical insurgency—one that dismantles barriers to artistic access while redefining the canon of South African jazz. Through electrifying live performances, cross-generational mentorship, and uncompromising creative exploration, they ensure that the nation’s musical heritage does not merely survive, but thrives, disrupts, and inspires.
Oratorio of a Forgotten Youth the album dedicated to the youth
Tracks
The Gethering [M Mlangeni arr: A Mkhize]
07:35
uBaba [Y Mnana]
06:01
Inkululeko [M Mlangeni & Y Mnana]
06:57
Woza [M Mlangeni]
03:59
#Movement/SoldiersLament [M Mlangeni]
10:07
Darkness [M Mlangeni]
07:41
Homelessness [M Mlangeni]
14:19
Credits
Lesego Rampolokeng: spoken word
Yonela Mnana: piano
Siya Mthembu: voice
String Quartet:
Kabelo Mothlomi, Kabelo Monnathebe: violin Tiisetso Mashishi: viola
Daliwonga Mashishi: cello
Choir:
Banele Khanye,Thembinkosi Sibisi: bass
Ntando Nxumalo,Israel Sonyoto: tenor
Surprise Sengwayo: alto
Khanyisa Xaba, Puleng Sedi, Nomphumele Kubheka, Akhona Thongo: soprano
Band:
Enoch Marutha: perc and drums
Simphiwe Tshabalala: drums
Ariel Zamonsky: double bass
Mathapelo Wesinyane: alto sax
Sibonelo Kodiseng: tenor sax
Sisonke Xonti: tenor and soprano sax
Thabang Manana: alto sax
Muhammad Dawjee: baritone and tenor sax Benedikt Reising: baritone sax
Mark Fransman: flute, alto flute, alto sax, bass clarinet Mandla Mlangeni: trumpet
Cover Art: Tawanda Mu Afrika
Design: Graeme Arendse
Recorded at Soda Studios, Johannesburg
Mixed and Mastered by Gavan Eckhart Produced by MMMusic Pty Ltd
WARNING: All Rights Reserved. Unauthorised duplication is a violation of applicable laws
© 2025 Amandla Freedom Ensemble, Mandla Mlangeni
© 2015-2025
Tropical Diaspora Records®
10 years!
www.tdrgo.co
The Lost Track: “Homelessness”
A 14-minute spoken-word and free-jazz epic, “Homelessness” fractures the boundary between music and urgent testimony. Featuring:
- Mlangeni’s trumpet as a weeping ghost over Enoch Marutha ritualistic drums.
- Lesego Rampolokeng’s unrecorded verse (later adapted for his Bird-Monk Seding project).
- Bassist Ariel Zamonsky’s bowed harmonics mimicking the creak of “a nation’s spine under boots.”
The track’s lyrics—”young skeletons hang staring on trees of dead fruit”—echo the album’s themes of betrayed liberation, but with a rawer, improvised ferocity that studio edits initially tempered.
This is a previously unreleased track that was not released on the first pressing of the Oratorio Of A Forgotten Youth album.
Esta é uma faixa inédita que não saiu na primeira prensagem do disco Oratorio Of A Forgotten Youth.
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