Music from South Africa

Original 1976 spiritual/free jazz double album on Ogun by Dudu Pukwana, Johnny Dyani, Louis Moholo and Chris McGregor.

Sisonke Xonti is a celebrated South African jazz saxophonist, composer, and bandleader. Originally from Cape Town, he relocated to Johannesburg where he deeply immersed himself in the local jazz scene, collaborating with esteemed artists like Nduduzo Makhathini, Abdullah Ibrahim, Hugh Masekela, Herbie Tsoaeli, and Zim Ngqawana. 6 years later, Sisonke is back with a powerfull album ‘”uKholo” with Shane Cooper on double bass, Yonela Mnana on piano and vocals, Ayanda Sikade on drums, Keenan Ahrends…

1972 Japanese re-issue on Trio/Japo of the 1970 album. With insert.

Original Japanese edition on Enja Records of the 1983 album. With insert and obi.

Original German edition on Enja Records of the 1979 album.

CD edition. A title like a manifesto, and music with the conviction to carry it. For a few nights at the close of 1972, the Jazzhus Montmartre in Copenhagen held a trio that would barely survive the season. Abdullah Ibrahim - then still recording as Dollar Brand - sat at the piano; Don Cherry stood with his trumpet; Carlos Ward raised his alto. From the performance of November 14 came The Third World-Underground, a record that surfaced only in Japan, on Trio Records' Nadja imprint in 1974, and t…

Released in 1979, Tete Mbambisa's Did You Tell Your Mother delivers the ultimate blend of African groove with American modal grace, making it one of the all-time classic albums of South African jazz. With Mbambisa presenting original compositions at the piano alongside Basil "Mannenberg" Coetzee on tenor sax and flute, the acoustic quartet featured here is rounded out by Zulu Bidi from the band Batsumi on bass locking in with Dollar Brand drummer Monty Weber. This 2026 reissue presents a flat tr…

Awarded an honorary doctorate from the University of Cape Town in 2023, pianist Tete Mbambisa (84) is a legendary figure in South African jazz. Supported by the cream of the local scene, his albums from the 1970s are among the most cherished vinyl documents from this golden era. A monumental archival undertaking, African Day compiles unreleased recordings from 1976 to resurrect a "lost" Tete Mbambisa double album that falls between his seminal works Tete's Big Sound (1975) and Did You Tell Your …

"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…

Recorded live at the 100 Club, London, on 16 April 1977, by Ron Barron. Some of this music was originally available on LP as OG 220 (Ogun, 1978). This expanded CD edition - previously only available as part of the long out of print "Blue Notes - The Ogun Collection" box set - now receives a first release as a stand alone title.

A vital artefact in the recorded history of the Blue Notes, being a live recording (Durban, 1964) of one the the group's last performances in their homeland prior to flying to France to appear by invitation at the Juan-Les-Pins Jazz Festival and then on to expatriation in England. The album was first released by Ogun in 1995 and then featured as part of the "Blue Notes - The Ogun Collection" box set in 2008, itself now long out of print. At long last this exceptional document is available again

"Blue Notes for Johnny" - a defining statement by one of the greatest ensembles in the history of jazz. Recorded in mid-1987 by Blue Notes - then reduced to the trio of Dudu Pukwana on alto sax, Louis Moholo-Moholo on drums and Chris McGregor on piano - it encounters the band 25 years after their founding embarking on an inward meditation through collective music making dedicated to Johnny Dyani, their former bandmate and friend.  Blue Notes were founded in Cape Town in 1962, and stand among the…

* Much-needed repress * Recorded live in Austria in 1972 this outstanding document marks an important event such as the meeting between Don Cherry and Dollar Brand. Here the modern jazz trumpet master and the great South-African pianist along with percussionist Nana Vasconcelos and bassist Johnny Dyani are caught in the middle of a sound ritual where Jazz elements and world music echoes appear as fully integrated in some sort of visionary, organic music form. A deep sensorial experience based on…

Highly anticipated sophomore release from saxophonist and composer Sisonke Xonti, winner of South Africa's 2020 Standard Bank Young Artist Award for Jazz. At the centre of the album, Xonti's four-part "Migration Suite" is his boldest work to date, exploring rural and urban identity and the perilous spiritual journey from homeland to the global village. Produced by Xonti and pianist Yonela Mnana and featuring photography by Mandisa Buthelezi, the album appears on As-Shams/The Sun as part of a ros…

"The album Tete’s Big Sound emerged during a golden age for local South African jazz recordings in the 1970s. Issued by the independent As-Shams/The Sun label in 1976, it was the first album attributed to pianist Tete Mbambisa as a solo artist. Yet, Mbambisa was already a seasoned composer, arranger, bandleader and performer by the mid-1970s - an artist at the peak of his powers who had patiently cultivated his craft to create his enduring debut. Born in 1942 and raised in South Africa's Eastern…

Ogun presents Before the Wind Changes, the quartet of Chris McGregor, Dudu Pukwana, Johnny Dyani and Louis Moholo-Moholo recorded live at Jazzclub De Hoop, Waregem, Belgium on 1st July 1979.

One of the most beautiful albums of the first production of the great South African pianist. Recorded live in 1965 at Cafe Montmartre in Copenhagen, in trio with Johnny Gertze - double bass and Makaya Ntshoko - drums, "Anatomy of a South African Village" shows the various aspects of the poetics of the then Dollar Brand and future Abdullah Ibrahim. From the circular and hypnotic pianism of African inspiration to the angularity of Monkish style, here expressed in the declared reinterpretation of c…

South African pianist and composer Abdullah Ibrahim (aka Dollar Brand) featuring Hamiet Bluiett (baritone sax) and Don Cherry (trumpet). Exact repro, originally released in 1977.

Exact repro of pianist Abdullah Ibrahim's 1976 album as Dollar Brand, featuring tenor saxophonist Basil Manenberg. Includes a cover of Thelonious Monk's "Blue Monk."