Song For Biko is a forgotten avant-garde Jazz classic, in the same company as Prince Lasha and Sonny Simmons' Firebirds. Cornetist Don Cherry may be the only well-known member of the quartet but he's the least interesting. He's the one that will lead people to quickly compare this album to Ornette Coleman's work. The other three musicians are from South Africa and bring a very different approach and sound to the table. It's like hearing guitarist Gabor Szabo for the first time. His combination of Hungarian Folk and Jazz is fascinating. Same thing here. Makaya Ntshoko's drumming is quite busy and very heavy. It gives the album a Rock feel at times. I'm surprised that alto saxophonist Dudu Pukwana's legacy is relatively obscure. He had some serious fire and passion at his command. The 16 minute "Jo'Burg - New York" is the most fascinating song. Everybody shows what they're made of, laying down a truly priceless slice of Jazz. The biggest surprise for me was bassist Johnny Dyani. He doesn't sit back and act content to play some boring walking bass line. He smacks the hell out of his bass. He makes it talk to you and you really get the impression that you are listening to his very core. If I hear more of his work I just might start calling him my favorite bassist period. He's THAT good. You could compare him to Cecil McBee and Richard Davis. He travels in those regions of emotive force.
Bassist Johnny Dyani had a large tone and a relaxed yet authoritative style. On this classic SteepleChase release he teams up with two other South African expatriates (altoist Dudu Pukwana and drummer Makay Ntshoko) plus cornetist Don Cherry for music that is haunting, emotional, somewhat adventurous, yet also melodic. While "Song for Biko" is the most memorable piece, all five of Dyani's originals (including the 16-and-a-half-minute "Jo'burg-New York") are special. The music combines together Dyani's South African folk heritage with Ornette Coleman's free bop and elements of avant-garde jazz. Highly recommended.
All compositions by Johnny Mbizo Dyani, except 7, traditional, arranged by JMD.
Johnny Mbizo Dyani - keyboards, vocals
Dudu Pukwana - altosax, whistles
Virimuje Shimmy Radise - tenor sax
Kenny Hakansson - electric guitars
Hassan Ban - congas
Bosse Skoglund - drums
Felix Perrera - South African trad. harp
Produced by Stanley Koonin at Sound City Studios, Stockholm, Dec.1979-Jan.1980.
This was released posthumously on the Cadillac label in 1987 and label head John Jack is listed as executive producer, though whether he may have had anything to do with the original sessions is not clear.
Following Dudu Pukwana's Zila, here's Johnny Mbizo Dyani's Witchdoctor's Son. This is not to be confused with the Witchdoctor's Son that came out on the Steeplechase label with a different line-up, though with Dudu Pukwana in both. This here is a Swedish - South African crew assembled by Mbizo for a session in Stockholm in late 1979 - early 1980. Most of the South Africans on the record were living in Sweden at the time, including Mbizo while Pukwana flew in from London for the session. Kenny Haakonson, guitarist with the prog rock outfit Kebnekajse was roped in as well as drummer Bosse Skoglund, old chums of Mbizo.
What we have here is one side of Mbizo compositions drawing on the popular SA music of the 50s and later, one traditional (in fact the same tune as the one on the Zila album posted previously), one quickie fusion number and then the odd one out, I thought, "Kalahari", named after the Botswana desert. Here Haakonson gets to do a proggish uptempo piece which would not out of place on a Kebnekajse record from the 70s, though normally not associated with Mbizo, though . Mbizo has vacated the bass for keyboards and handles vocal duties on this record.
Since his arrival in England as a South African expatriate in the early '60s and as a member of the Blue Notes, bassist Johnny Dyani served as a powerful and creative component of innumerable ensembles (including those led by Abdullah Ibrahim and Chris McGregor) before releasing a series of albums under his own name in the late '70s and '80s. Witchdoctor's Son is certainly one of the best of these, featuring the wonderful dual reed frontline of John Tchicai and fellow ex-pat Dudu Pukwana. The pieces reflect Dyani's upbringing in the township style prevalent in South Africa, a joyous, surging music which seeks to transcend the horror of everyday life as experienced by the native majority. None of the compositions give a better example of this than the superb concluding number, "Magwaza," a traditional song arranged by Dyani with a grooving, elastic bassline that is absolutely irresistible and which provides fertile ground for inspired solos by Tchicai and Pukwana. Dyani would die far too early in 1986, but his warmth and utter musicality happily found expression in several small group recordings made in the prior ten years, of which Witchdoctor's Son is a sterling example. Highly recommended.
Johnny Mbizo Dyani (Nov. 30, 1945 — Oct. 24, 1986) was a South African double-bassist who emerged as one of the founding members of Cape Town jazz heroes the Blue Notes, in which he played alongside saxist Dudu Pukwana, drummer Louis Moholo, and trumpeter Mongezi Feza.
Just as the Blue Notes began making waves in Europe, Dyani departed in 1966 to tour Argentina with American saxist Steve Lacy. The following year, Dyani and Moholo played alongside Italian trumpeter Enrico Rava on Lacy’s The Forest and the Zoo album. Over the next five years, Dyani also appeared on albums by Al Shorter, Don Cherry, John Stevens, and former band-mate Chris McGregor.
In 1972, Dyani and Feza formed a surname-sake free-jazz trio with Turkish percussionist Okay Temiz. Their album, Music for Xaba, Vol. I, was issued the following year on Sonet. A second volume would appear in 1979, four years after Feza’s passing, which sparked the Blue Notes 1976 reunion album Blue Notes for Mongezi.
Dyani and Temiz recorded one further album, Witchdoctor’s Son, in 1976. That same title would also be used for Dyani’s first solo album, recorded with Pukwana and Danish saxist John Tchicai and released in 1978 on SteepleChase. That same year, he played in Moholo’s eponymous octet for the album Spirits Rejoice! The late ’70s also found the bassist’s name on albums by Dave Murray, Dollar Brand, Joe Bonner and Phillip Wilson.
In 1979, Dyani released his most popular album, Song for Biko, with a newly formed quartet comprised of Cherry, Pukwana, and drummer Makaya Ntshoko. A string of further solo and collaborative efforts would follow into the mid-1980s, which also found Dyani behind U.S. vibist Khan Jamal and beside Nowegian saxist Frode Gjerstad in the free-jazz trio Detail.
In October 1986, Dyani died shortly after a performance in West Berlin. His passing inspired a second Blue Notes reunion album, Blue Notes for Johnny. In 1988, a vaulted 1972 Dyani Temiz Feza recording session was issued as Rejoice on Cadillac Records.
Pressure Cooker South African Township Jazz and Mbaqanga. Dudu Pukwana’s 1968 debut album, recorded in London, released only in South Africa. A second album of mostly unreleased 1969 recordings featuring Richard Thompson, Simon Nicol, Joe Mogotsi, Chris McGregor, Mongezi Feza, Louis Moholo, members of Osibisa, and others. Originally produced by Joe Boyd. Re-mastered audio, double gatefold album, heavyweight 180g vinyl. Unseen photographs by Val Wilmer. New liner notes by Richard Haslop join the historical dots.
Dudu Pukwana and the Spears recorded in London, but were only ever released in South Africa. The story behind this extraordinary music and the famous names involved are documented in this extended edition of Dudu Pukwana’s debut album.
In 1964 the Blue Notes left South Africa to play at the Antibes Jazz Festival in France, and more or less stayed away forever after. In January 1969 alto saxophonist Dudu Pukwana went home briefly along with producer Joe Boyd who persuaded Johannesburg record company Trutone to license the recordings for release in South Africa.
PERSONNEL on tracks 1-10
Confirmed: Dudu Pukwana (alto sax), Bob Stuckey (organ and bass pedals), Louis Moholo (drums). Likely: Phil Lee (guitar), Chris McGregor (piano), Teddy Osei (tenor sax), Mongezi Feza (trumpet), Harry Miller (bass). Possible: Jonas Gwangwa (trombone), Dudu Pukwana (tenor sax and piano), Remi Kabaka (drums or percussion), Jimmy Scott (percussion), Tunji Oyelana (drums or percussion).
PERSONNEL on tracks 11-19
Confirmed: Dudu Pukwana (alto sax), Richard Thompson (guitar), Simon Nicol (guitar), Harry Miller (bass), Louis Moholo (drums), Mongezi Feza (trumpet), Joe Mogotsi (vocals), Bob Stuckey (organ and bass pedals). Likely: Mamsie (Mthombeni) Gwangwa (vocals), Chris McGregor (piano), Phil Lee (guitar), Teddy Osei (tenor sax). Possible: Dudu Pukwana (tenor sax), Jonas Gwangwa (trombone), Remi Kabaka (drums or percussion), Jimmy Scott (percussion), Tunji Oyelana (drums or percussion)
Amazing work from South African jazz legend Dudu Pukwana – a rare album from 1969, plus a never-issued set of tracks done for Atlantic Records at the same time! The core album, titled Dudu Pukwana & The Spears, features Dudu on alto, in the company of a lot of familiar players from his roots – Chris McGregor on piano, Mongezi Feza on trumpet, Louis Moholo on drums, Harry Miller on bass, and Jonas Gwangwa on trombone – plus great organ from Bob Stucky, who'd recorded with Pukwana a bit on the London scene of the 60s – and wholes presence really brings in a nice soul jazz vibe! The style is much straighter than the more avant 70s material of all players involved – and definitely has some of that upbeat South African sense of rhythm going on – nicely rollicking, and starting somewhere in the territory of a Hugh Masekela record, then moving into more of a Prestige 60s vibe.
In 1964 the Blue Notes, to this day one of South Africa’s most iconic musical ensembles, left their homeland to play at the Antibes Jazz Festival in France, and more or less stayed away forever after. Opportunities for this mixed-race aggregation to perform at home were severely limited and only Nikele Moyake and, decades later, Louis Moholo, returned on any kind of long-term basis. In January 1969 alto saxophonist Dudu Pukwana went home briefly, and herein lies the story of this release. Parts of the story remain lost to time, failing memories and a lack of comprehensive recordkeeping.
Here, half a century later, is what we know, or can reasonably assume. Following a short spell at Ronnie Scott’s club in London, and having spent time in Switzerland, the musicians returned to London in 1965 without Moyake. Regular decently remunerative work was hard to find. Not only were Musicians’ Union rules a significant barrier; the fact that the music they played fell well outside the comfortable mainstream also contributed. One of the few places where these Blue Notes could play, even if they made considerably less than a reasonable living out of it, was at Ronnie Scott’s Old Place. There they shared the meagre contributions made by what were described by one writer as “depressingly poor” attendances. Yet those who were there still talk of the way they helped to galvanise a fairly moribund British jazz scene. There was critical acclaim and recognition from some peers, but no money to speak of. It was at The Old Place that Joe Boyd first encountered them. Boyd was a young American record producer living in London. He had worked as a production manager on the Newport Jazz and Folk Festivals in the USA and had first become interested in South African music when he saw penny whistle legend Spokes Mashiyane play at the 1965 folk festival. That was where Bob Dylan had, initially controversially, first played electric rock music in front of an audience. Boyd, who had produced Pink Floyd’s first single and the debut album by the Incredible String Band, signed the South African musicians to his Witchseason production company, whose roster included Fairport Convention, John and Beverley Martyn, and Nick Drake, among the most important artists in the emerging British folk-rock movement.
Boyd arranged a recording deal for the Blue Notes, reconstituted as the Chris McGregor Group with Ronnie Beer on tenor in the place of Moyake, and produced Very Urgent. Much more a free jazz than an overtly South African record, it was released in May 1968. McGregor spoke of how much the South African jazz players in the UK, homesick and looking for a way to feel rooted, missed mbaqanga music. In fact, he, Beer and Pukwana had played on a 1967 album by fellow exile, saxophonist Gwigwi Mrwebi. Initially entitled Kwela (by Gwigwi’s Band) but reissued much later as the more correctly named Mbaqanga Songs, it had featured several short Pukwana compositions influenced by township swing. A month or so after the release of Very Urgent, Pukwana, who also played regularly in groups led by British organist Bob Stuckey, went into London’s Sound Techniques studio. There he recorded a number of tracks with Boyd producing and the renowned John Wood engineering. When they were done Boyd realised that the unequivocally South African results, if slightly more modern than Mrwebi’s album, were not likely to make much of a commercial impact in the UK. However, he thought he might be able to interest a South African company in licensing the music. That way Witchseason might at least recoup its outlay. So, in January 1969, he and Pukwana flew to South Africa. Pukwana used the opportunity to visit his father in Port Elizabeth, where he played at a concert that also featured Winston Mankunku Ngozi. Boyd, in the meantime, persuaded Johannesburg record company Trutone to license the recordings, comprising ten tracks, for possible South African release. Boyd recalls that, on the subject of exiled South African musicians, Trutone’s man expressed the view that Miriam Makeba would be back soon enough, and with her tail between her legs.
While he was in Johannesburg Boyd bought a copy of a 1968 compilation entitled Good Luck Motella on the Motella label (LMO 107), a record that reflected the current direction of black South African popular music. It consisted largely of songs in the vocal mbaqanga style known as mgqashiyo. Several of the songs featured Mahlathini and members of the Mahotella Queens and the Makgona Tsohle Band, but under a variety of names. Listening to it, Boyd thought there might be a place in the UK market for a Dudu Pukwana album that combined some tracks from the recordings he had just licensed to Trutone with others in the more contemporary style displayed on Good Luck Motella. He also thought that it might be an idea to incorporate musicians from other musical areas into the project. So he lent the album to Richard Thompson, now widely regarded as among the finest guitarists in the rock and folk music canons, but then just a hugely talented young player in a new group called Fairport Convention. Boyd asked him if he could learn to play like the guitarist on the compilation. That guitarist was the great Marks Mankwane. Thompson has said that this made him feel, for a few months, like the coolest guitar player in London.
Meanwhile, Trutone issued the recordings they had licensed on their Quality imprint as both an LP (LTJ-S 232) and an 8-track tape under the misspelled title of Dudu Phukwana and the “Spears”, complete with inverted commas. Pukwana led a band in the UK called Spear, but perhaps the South African recording industry wasn’t yet ready for groups without a plural name preceded by the definite article. Copies of the album have been extraordinarily hard to find for many years and have become something of a Holy Grail to collectors of Blue Notes-related material. Though there were ten tracks on the record, two of them, identified as ‘Half Moon’ and ‘Kwa Thula’, were the same tune. They are the same track, just with different stereo mixes. Indeed, there was a comment written on the tape box that Boyd had left in Johannesburg saying that ‘Kwa Thula’ was “to be replaced”. Trutone clearly overlooked it. The correct name of the tune is almost certainly ‘Half Moon’ rather than ‘Kwa Thula’. Half Moon Crescent was the address at which Pukwana would rehearse with Bob Stuckey, who plays on this album. Furthermore, Pukwana travelled to New York during 1969 and played alto on an album entitled Who (Ngubani)?, led by South African trombonist Jonas Gwangwa. There is one Dudu Pukwana composition on that LP, a song entitled ‘Kwatula’, and it has an entirely different tune to ‘Half Moon’/‘Kwa Thula’. Confusingly, the tune of the Gwangwa ‘Kwatula’ is that of ‘Pezulu’, the opening track on Dudu Phukwana and the “Spears”,but with vocals. ‘Pezulu’ itself, an especially appealing piece with a maddeningly catchy riff, was released by Trutone as a single on the Stokvel imprint (45ST 115), with ‘Kuthwazi Hlobo’ on the B side.
The participants in the “Spears” recordings remain something of a mystery, although we can make a few educated guesses. There appear to be two separate ensembles, one featuring piano and a horn section and the other featuring organ and solo alto. Bob Stuckey has identified himself as the organ player, using pedals for the bass. That being the case the guitarist on the organ tracks is likely to have been Phil Lee, who played with Pukwana in Stuckey’s quartet. The identities of the rest of this outfit are harder to be sure of. In its brief review of the record South Africa’s Drum magazine stated that the Spears were a Nigerian group. Boyd recalls that Ghanaian Teddy Osei and perhaps others from the West African-Caribbean band Osibisa took part in the sessions. Nigerian musicians who were involved with Pukwana at about this time included Jimmy Scott and Tunji Oyelana. There is certainly a fair amount of West
African-styled percussion on the album. It has also been plausibly suggested that, in addition to alto, Pukwana may have doubled on tenor and perhaps played the piano parts as well. It must be said, though, that the pianist sounds very much like McGregor. In addition, there appears to be a trombonist. Could that have been Jonas Gwangwa?
Since the 2005 publication of Boyd’s book, White Bicycles: Making Music In The 1960s, in which he mentioned that Richard Thompson and fellow Fairport Convention guitarist Simon Nicol had played on Dudu Pukwana sessions, it appears to have been assumed that theirs are the guitars that appear on Dudu Phukwana and the “Spears”. As is evident from the fact that Boyd only lent Good Luck Motella to Thompson after he and Dudu had returned from Johannesburg, that is not so. Boyd has confirmed this. But the CD that was released to accompany Boyd’s book contains a Dudu Pukwana track, reflected as previously unreleased, entitled ‘Church Mouse’, on which Thompson and Nicol are credited as guitarists with Mongezi Feza as trumpeter and a rhythm section of Harry Miller, another South African, and Louis Moholo. This brings us to the next part of the tale.
A few years ago an acetate surfaced in an American collection. It is by Dudu Pukwana and the Spears and emanates from the Atlantic Recording Studios in New York. Quite why Atlantic would have made such an acetate, and at whose instance, is by no means clear. Perhaps Dudu took some of the Boyd tracks with him when he went to play with Jonas Gwangwa in an effort to create American interest but, if that is so, one can’t help wondering why he chose these particular tracks. The tracks, which almost certainly come from the various London sessions, contain music both from before and after the trip to South Africa. Alongside the Quality version of ‘Half Moon’, there are two different takes of ‘Pezulu’, one of which appears to be the one used on the Quality LP, but extended by about thirty seconds, and two different takes of a cover version of the mbaqanga song ‘Sibuyile’. Perhaps decisively in establishing the recordings’ provenance, the version of ‘Sibuyile’ that appears to be the template for the acetate rendition is on that Good Luck Motella album that Boyd lent to Thompson. The same applies to ‘iZulu Liyaduduma’. On Good Luck Motella, both were credited to Izintombi Zo Mgqashiyo, really Mahlathini and the Mahotella Queens under a different name. Since the songs come from the album Boyd lent Thompson, it seems that these must be from the 1969 sessions written about in White Bicycles. Another addition is Joe Mogotsi of the Manhattan Brothers trying, manfully, to groan like the much more naturally rough-sounding Mahlathini. Identifying the female chorus has proved more difficult as Boyd didn’t recall having female singers on the session. One of them sounds like Mamsie Gwangwa, wife of Jonas, who also features on Who (Ngubani)?. Boyd has written of the fine job Richard Thompson did of learning the mbaqanga guitar parts and there is no doubt that, while not always a dead ringer for the matchless Mankwane, his playing is an excellent facsimile. These recordings took place in the smaller, number 2 studio at Olympic in Barnes, London. Simon Nicol, eighteen at the time, remembers that the studio was packed and hugely different and exciting. “I felt very cosmopolitan,” he says, “and quite grown up with all the strong accents, the energy, the rum and the dope hanging in the air.” Chris McGregor himself would appear to be the pianist on these acetate tracks. The acetate features ‘Church Mouse’, a McGregor composition that hints at his upbringing as the son of a church minister, and appears on the trio album, Our Prayer, that McGregor recorded with Boyd in 1969, but was only released in 2008. Other than ‘Church Mouse’, the acetate labels do not identify any of its contents by title. Nevertheless, another McGregor composition, or at least a precursor to its later publication, is included as an untitled mbaqanga instrumental. It strongly echoes the pianist’s ‘Andromeda’, which would make its formal recorded appearance the following year on the debut album by McGregor’s mighty multinational but heavily South African flavoured big band, the Brotherhood Of Breath, in which the frequently brilliant Dudu would play a starring role.
Boyd, whose Witchseason company was financially distressed, was to take up a job with Warner Brothers in the US at the beginning of 1971, so 1970 was a busy year as he finished albums by Nico, John and Beverley Martyn (on one of which Pukwana played), Nick Drake (with Chris McGregor memorably on piano), the Incredible String Band, Mike Heron of that band (featuring Dudu’s alto), Fairport Convention, Fotheringay, Vashti Bunyan and that first album by Chris McGregor’s Brotherhood Of Breath. He wanted to finish the Pukwana album as well before he left the UK as he believed he had enough raw material in the can, if only he could get some decent solos out of Dudu. So he booked more time at Sound Techniques and called in the altoist to record those solos. But Pukwana was drinking heavily at the time and, according to Boyd, was not able to produce anything worth keeping. Boyd has said that one of the biggest regrets of his long and storied career is still the fact that he was unable to finish the Dudu Pukwana album. As the first solo recording by one of South Africa’s greatest musicians this reissue has obvious historical significance. It contains enough of Pukwana’s trademark sound, still emotionally searing half a century later, to make it a thoroughly rewarding musical event as well.
Tenor Saxophone, Baritone Saxophone – Fred Fredericks
Trumpet – Mongezi Feza
Vocals – Martha Mdenge
Alto Saxophone, Piano – Dudu Pukwana
From the back cover: “In recording this second album its been a pleasure once again with such rated musicians as Louis Moholo (drums) Dudu Pukwana (Alto/Piano) Mongezi Feza (Trumpet) Terri Quaye (Congas) and Bizo Mngikana (tenor). New members to the band are Smiley de Jonnes (congas/percussion) and Fred Fredericks (tenor/baritone) and Martha Mdenge who writes and sings some nice African folk songs. Thanks to fellow Vertigo artists Jade Warrior for strumming, picking, banging and blowing along, not to mention writing and arranging a few steamers. Recorded at Nova Sound Studios and Engineered by Richard Dodds. Produced by Dave Watson for Normal Associates. Sleeve Designed and drawn by Roger Dean."
Assagai was an Afro-rock band from South Africa, active in the early 1970s in London. It consisted of five members: drummer Louis Moholo, trumpeter/flautist Mongezi Feza, tenor saxophonist Bizo Muggikana, guitarist Fred Cocker, and alto saxophonist Dudu Pukwana. They recorded for the British label Vertigo Records. Assagai's self-titled debut album was released in 1971. It was reissued on CD by Repertoire Records in 1994. Their second and final album, Zimbabwe, was released later in 1971. The album was re-released as LP by Music for Pleasure label, but under a different title, AfroRock. Both their albums featured songs written by members of Jade Warrior and also included guest appearances from them as well. In the 1960s, Pukwana, Feza and Moholo were also members of the jazz band The Blue Notes alongside Chris McGregor.
Although Assagai's Zimbabwe is so unnervingly eclectic that some might find it a somewhat uneven listening experience, it's a very interesting fusion of funk, rock, and African influences that's quite forward-looking for the early '70s, with just a bit of psychedelia thrown in. When they're playing in a relatively straightforward Afro-funk vein, they're pretty hot, mixing grinding, groovy riffs with some African beats, wailing melancholy horns, and obviously James Brown-influenced rhythm guitar. That blend is prevalent on the opening six-minute instrumental "Barazinbar," and vocals get thrown into a similar approach on "Bayeza." But others cuts vary the arrangements enough to steer the album well clear of formulas. "Kinzambi," another instrumental, gets into some intense interplay between jazzy brass and hand-held percussion, and the beats and brass on "Sanga" might slightly remind some listeners of Manu Dibango's work. "Wanga" and "Come Along" have a bubbly lilt more identified with the sweeter aspects of the Afro-Pop popularized around the world from the '80s onward, though "Come Along" has the kind of romantically shivering vocal associated with some pre-1970 African popular music. "Dalani" is another highlight, kicked off by a compelling, tinkling keyboard riff and gliding into a first-class jubilant funk instrumental. Making the group harder to pigeonhole, however, are "La La," which sounds almost like a dreamy psychedelic singer/songwriter ballad (albeit not sung in the English language) with piano and entrancingly folky guitar. Not well-known even among collectors looking for early fusions of African music and funk, Zimbabwe's an interesting, energizing record whose innovations and creativity are worthy of more recognition.
