Jazz /
Good News From Africa
Pianist-composer Abdullah Ibrahim ( formerly known as “Dollar Brand“) has long ranked among South Africa’s giants alongside Hugh Masekela, Miriam Makeba and the late Kippie Mokoetsi. A master of improvisation with a distinctive African edge, the exiled Cape Town musician has developed a musical style over the past 30 years that defies categorization.Rather, it is a fascinating mosaic of diverse traditions including African rutal and township rhythms, classical jazz, and gospel. South African fol…
Outback
Temporary nice price Eargong Records present a reissue of Mike Osborne's Outback, originally released in 1970. Alto saxophonist Mike Osborne has been one of British jazz's most intense players. A unique alto sax voice that enhanced the music of great bands such as Chris McGregor's Brotherhood of Breath, Mike Westbrook, Harry Miller's Isipingo, Mike Gibbs, and many others. Originally released in 1970, Outback is Mike Osborne's debut album. This is open, passionate, and adventurous music performe…
Blue Notes for Mongezi
"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…
The Gospel According To Dudu Pukwana
Those lucky enough to have been exposed to Dudu Pukwana's music will forever be in the grip of of a rare and beautiful musical spirit. More than 20 years after his death, his uniquely original music lives in a powerful and inspirational way. This album is a tribute to Dudu helmed by American musician/producer Andrew Scott, who first heard the Blue Notes in 1966 at Leeds University - the genesis of a personal musical journey leading up to this special project. Duduvudu has been a family affair - …
Blue Notes In Concert
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.
Legacy - Live In South Afrika 1964
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
"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…
Ndikho Xaba And The Natives
*50th Anniversary Remaster* Outstanding!! Matsuli Music presents soul, spirituality and avant-garde jazz from South African political exile Ndikho Xaba. Its rarity has until now served to obscure both its beauty and its historical significance. Making profound links between the struggle against apartheid and the Black Power movement in the USA Ndikho Xaba and the Natives is arguably the most complete and complex South African jazz LP recorded in the USA. It stands out as a critical document in t…
Bremen To Bridgwater (2CD)
This release, Bremen to Bridgewater, contains two albums worth of previously unreleased live recordings made in Germany and England during two very different periods of the band’s career. The German radio recordings were made on June 20th, 1971 at Lila Eule (Lilac Owl), a well known jazz club in Bremen. The English recordings were made at the Bridgewater Arts Center, during two tours that the band made with different lineups in February and November of 1975, and feature some of the very last rec…
Gideon Plays
Long lost 1968 album from visionary South African jazz composer incorporating traditional African music sources and instruments. Officially licensed from the Nxumalo family and reissued with inner sleeve containing archival photographs and new liner notes by Francis Gooding. Gideon Nxumalo’s Gideon Plays might just be the most mythologised and sought-after LP in the whole South African canon. A sophisticated bop excursion with a distinctive African edge, it was only Nxumalo’s second LP as leader…
Rebel Flames
Founders Pino Minafra and Roberto Ottaviano remain at the core of Canto General but since the 1990s there have been many meetings and collaborations. Here they link up with the great South African drummer Louis Moholo-Moholo, recorded live at Tivoli, Italy (with track 8 from a festival in Perpignan, France) in 2007.
For the Blue Notes
Ogun presents For the Blue Notes, Louis Moholo-Moholo's 8-piece Unit recorded live at the Theatre Manzoni in Milan, Italy, on 4 March 2012.
Keep Your Heart Straight
It was May 2009 when I first heard Alexander Hawkins play at the Vortex Jazz Club, with the Anthony Braxton s cornet-playing protégé Taylor Ho Bynum, bassist Dominic Lash and drummer Harris Eisenstadt in the Convergence Quartet. The music was an idiomatic white-knuckle ride, and all the players were variously fascinating but the then 28 year-old Hawkins was a revelation, for the audacity of his ideas, the depth of his understanding of both thematic and free-form musics, and for his Cecil Taylor-…
Before the Wind Changes
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.
An Open Letter to my Wife Mpumi
Ogun presents An Open Letter to my Wife Mpumi by Louis Moholo-Moholo Unit. Louis Moholo-Moholo - drums and vocals. Jason Yarde - soprano, alto & baritone saxophones. Ntshuks Bonga - alto & tenor saxophones. Pule Pheto - piano. Orphy Robinson - vibraphone. John Edwards - bass. Francine Luce - vocals. Recorded in London, Nov 2008. "It's a ragged and jam-like studio set with a raucous live feel - but it confirms Moholo-Moholo's presence on the scene as a blast of fresh air." - The Guardian
Khumbula (Remember)
A duo recording from October 2004, produced by Evan Parker, which marked the first time that Louis Moholo-Moholo and Stan Tracey had worked together for thirty years and the first time ever as a duo. The pair entered Gateway Studios in Kingston, London with no prior discussion on what form the music should take, choosing instead to let the music take them. This glorious album is the result.
Mpumi
An album of piano / drums duets that Louis named for his beloved, and now tragically departed, wife Mpumi. The recordings took place in London in September, 1995, though the album was not actually released until 2002.
"Louis Moholo-Moholo, Son of the soil, has embarked on this musical journey with two of South Afrika's treasures - pianists Mervyn Africa and Pule Pheto. The third Pianist being his old favourite and friend, Keith Tippett. Louis's vibrant, warm and marvellous sounds celebrate the m…
Bò Kay La Vi-a
Ogun presents Bò Kay La Vi-a by Francine Luce. One of the lesser-known gems in the Ogun catalogue - check the the list of participating musicians to start with! Francine, originally from Martinique but a long-time resident of the UK, has contributed her unique vocals to Louis Moholo-Moholo's Unit and Septet, and to the Dedication Orchestra, but this her debut album from 1999 remains her only recorded output under her name on Ogun.
Different Times Vol 2
A second volume of valuable documents from the Ogun archives by label co-founder Harry Miller. the tracks come from three sessions spanning 1977-1982. All feature Harry on bass with Louis Moholo-Moholo behind the drum kit and Trevor Watts on sax, other musicians included are Alan Wakeman (sax), Bernie Holland (guitar), Keith Tippett (piano), Alan Tomlinson (trombone), Dave Holdsworth (trumpet). This joyful music, at times rough around the edges but full of life and spirit, conviction and enthusi…
Procession Live At Toulouse
“Procession” captures Chris McGregor’s Anglo/South African big band in explosive form. Originally released on LP in 1978, this historic recording has been painstakingly restored from the original two-track analogue masters for this 2013 CD edition, which features an additional 23 minutes of music.