
OTOROKU
Blue Notes - Blue Notes For Mongezi
Regular price £26.00 Save £-26.00Product Description
-
OTOROKU
is
proud
to
present
the
first
vinyl
reissue
of
Blue
Notes
for
Mongezi,
one
of
the
most
passionate
celebrations
of
a
life
in
music
ever
laid
to
tape.
Recorded
in
late
1975
by
Blue
Notes,
then
reduced
to
a
quartet
-
Dudu
Pukwana
on
alto
sax,
whistle,
percussion,
and
vocals,
Johnny
Dyani
on
bass,
bells
and
vocals,
Louis
Moholo-Moholo
on
drums,
percussion
and
vocals,
and
Chris
McGregor
on
piano
and
percussion
-
and
issued
the
following
year
by
Ogun,
the
album
is
a
kairos;
the
first
commercial
release
by
one
of
free
jazz’s
seminal
ensembles,
captured
them
13
years
after
their
founding
-
at
the
height
of
their
powers
-
delivering
an
explosive
dirge
dedicated
to
Mongezi
Feza,
their
former
bandmate
and
friend.
Blue
Notes
were
founded
in
Cape
Town
in
1962
and
stand
among
the
most
important
ensembles
in
the
history
of
jazz.
Artistically
brilliant
and
groundbreaking
-
gathering,
within
a
few
short
years,
a
devoted
following
that
included
Don
Cherry,
Steve
Lacy,
Abdullah
Ibrahim,
Dexter
Gordon,
Kenny
Drew,
Keith
Tippett,
Evan
Parker,
John
Stevens,
and
numerous
others
-
they
were
also
the
first
widely
visible
multiracial
band
in
South
Africa.
As
a
mixed
race
band
under
South
African
apartheid;
this
group
of
friends
and
like-minded
artists
-
Chris
McGregor,
Mongezi
Feza,
Dudu
Pukwana,
Nikele
Moyake,
Johnny
Dyani
and
Louis
Moholo-Moholo
-
existed
within
a
context
that
viewed
their
mere
existence
as
a
dangerous
and
subversive
act.
In
1964,
as
the
pressure
mounted,
they
joined
an
exodus
of
musicians
leaving
for
Europe,
eventually
settling
in
London
during
the
following
year.
Sadly,
not
long
after
arriving
and
facing
continued
economic
peril,
the
group
buckled.
Johnny
Dyani
left
to
join
Don
Cherry’s
band.
Moholo-Moholo
and
Dyani
followed
suit
and
joined
Steve
Lacy
on
tour,
and
the
remaining
members
morphed
into
a
number
of
ensembles
that
eventually
grew
to
become
Chris
McGregor's
Brotherhood
Of
Breath.
In
late
1975
however,
Mongezi
Feza
-
in
the
midst
of
a
fruitful
period
collaborating
with
Dudu
Pukwana,
Johnny
Dyani,
and
Okay
Temiz
-
suddenly
passed
away
at
the
age
of
thirty
from
pneumonia.
Nine
days
later,
on
the
23rd
December,
following
the
memorial
service
to
their
friend,
Pukwana,
Dyani,
5
McGregor,
and
Moholo-Moholo
gathered
in
a
rehearsal
room
in
London
and
set
out
to
play.
Fittingly,
no
discussion
took
place
before
or
during
the
session.
The
music
was
left
to
say
it
all.
The
resulting
double
LP
coalesced
into
four
long-form
movements
that
occupy
a
side
each,
collectively
unleashing
an
onslaught
of
free
jazz
fire,
fluidly
covering
a
remarkable
range
of
moods
and
tactical
approaches
across
its
length.
For
anyone
encountering
the
Blue
Notes
for
the
first
time,
the
album
must
have
felt
like
being
blindsided
by
a
brick,
adding
a
profound
sense
of
credence
to
Moholo-Moholo’s
belief
that
free
improvisation
was
intrinsically
linked
to
the
Pan-African
temperament.
In
the
band’s
hands,
the
idiom
sounds
like
nothing
else
and
exactly
as
it
should.
A
frenzied
funeral
dirge,
a
cry,
and
catharsis,
the
record
rises
and
falls
between
playful
and
joyous
movements
of
deconstructed
song,
rhythmic
and
vocal
tribalism,
and
churning,
instrumental
free
expression.
It
indicates
not
only
a
possible
future
for
musical
expression
-
as
all
truly
avant-garde
music
does
-
but
also
the
very
roots
of
music
itself,
illuminating,
through
abstraction,
the
far-flung,
ancient
roots
currently
carried
by
the
New
Orleans”first
line”
march
to
the
grave.
It
is
a
decidedly
African
vision
of
free
jazz,
coalescing
as
a
collective
expression
of
celebration
and
loss
on
a
cold
London
day.
It
is
a
masterpiece
unfolding
in
real
time
-
out
on
a
limb
and
laden
with
risk
-
created
by
four
of
the
most
talented
voices
the
idiom
has
known.
DUDU
PUKWANA
alto
sax,
whistle,
percussion,
vocals.
CHRIS
McGREGOR
piano,
percussion.
LOUIS
MOHOLO
drums,
percussion,
vocals.
JOHNNY
DIYANI
bass,
bell,
vocals
and
most
of
the
words.
This
2022
re-issue
has
been
made
with
permission
and
in
association
with
Ogun
records.
Transferred
from
the
original
masters
and
featuring
an
exact
reproduction
of
the
original
artwork.
Remastered
by
Giuseppe
Ilelasi
and
packaged
in
a
high
gloss
sleeve.
Read More