The Blue Notes

Group Cape Town connection

The mixed sextet Chris McGregor built in Cape Town, with Dudu Pukwana, Mongezi Feza, Nikele Moyake, Johnny Dyani and Louis Moholo-Moholo. A band of black and white players could not work legally in South Africa, so in 1964 they played the Antibes festival and stayed in Europe. Their sound changed British jazz, and only Moholo-Moholo lived to come home.

Connections

is associated with

apartheid era (1964) they left because mixed bands could not work at home
Blue Notes for Mongezi (1976) recorded days after Feza's death
Blue Notes for Johnny the second memorial, for Johnny Dyani

is in

Cape Town the band came out of the city's mixed jazz scene

counted as a member

Louis Moholo-Moholo (1963) drums; he joined McGregor in 1963
Chris McGregor he founded and led it
Dudu Pukwana alto saxophone
Johnny Dyani double bass
Mongezi Feza trumpet
Nikele Moyake tenor saxophone

took place at

London (1965) where the band settled in exile

Read more on Cape Town Data

Hear the music for yourself

Play the South African music quizTen new questions every day, most of them short clips from more than 90 South African recordings, from kwela and Cape jazz to amapiano. Answer to read the story behind each song.

Sources for these connections

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