‘New Era’ is a slickly produced effort that is identifiably South African, even when there is no subscription to the I-IV-V-I harmonic ethos. Thekwini features Wayne de Lano on tenor saxophone and Joe McBride on piano. One of the few tracks here with a live drummer (Mike Drake), it is not a bass feature and has a simple melody, as has Gabriel’s Garden, where the bass takes the theme. Gentle on the ear, it has Andy Narell on steel pans and Xoli Nkosi on piano. Fikiswa mines I-IV-I-V territory, again with Nkosi and De Lano on soprano sax. Peacocks Today Featherdusters Tomorrow is probably Sipho’s best-known recent composition. Jazz-lite, to be sure, but it has one of those melodies that stay with you, like a well-known diet chewing gum. North West is IV-I-V-I, with McBride on swirling organ and De Lano on sizzling soprano. Makhasi is a tribute to the aforementioned late Duke, with De Lano capturing part of the man’s exuberant spirit, and McBride’s left piano hand and Sipho locking in tightly. There is a strange, presumably unintentional echo of Depeche Mode’s Everything Counts in the bridge section. Give Me Love is another bass melody feature, as is Social Climber – which, however, is just too smooth, too pretty, to be making a social commentary. If the slickness itself is the point, then it isn’t clear and distinct enough, undifferentiated as it is from the rest of the material. Nonetheless, the track features Sipho’s most impressive playing here, before settling into the obligatory I-IV-V groove, as a vehicle for De Lano’s tenor. On Peace Be With You Sipho takes the melody, with Nkosi on organ and brass. The piece begins slowly and works itself into an increasingly passionate rendition. Save My Soul again has a bass melody and Nkosi on organ. It has a somewhat unconventional chord progression but can be imagined as a vehicle for a full-on Baptist congregation frenzy somewhere in the Benighted States of America. The final tune here, Sea Waves, next to Peacocks, could be my favourite – a reggae-related minor-key burner, with De Lano cooking on tenor, but it includes yet another faceless major-key bridge that sits uneasily with the rest of the tune.

There are occasional flashes here of Gumede’s brilliance and while these are sufficient to remind us of the loss incurred as a result of his untimely death, I do hope that Sheer or Retro-Fresh will release the Spirits Rejoice and Sakhile albums that Sipho played on, lasting testaments to the man’s bassic prowess.