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The Blue Notes


king ubu

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I found this great CD yesterday, in some sales bin for a small amount of $$:

PRPCD013.jpg

Proper Records has the following text:

This CD contains the very first recordings from the Blue Notes. The legendary South African Modern Jazz combo then featured the talents of Pianist Chris McGregor, trumpeter Mongezi Feza, saxophonists Dudu Pukwana and Nick Moyake, and drummer Louis Tebugo Moholo. The racial situation in South Africa forced the Blue Notes to leave the country in '64. They wandered through France, Switzerland and Scandanavia before settling in London, where they were to have a profound effect on the British Jazz scene of the late 1960s. These extremely rare recordings have never before been released in the UK or Europe.

(souce: http://www.propermusic.com/code/products.asp?recid=1992#)

The CD contains the following:

Chris McGregor p; Dudu Pukwana as; Nick Moyake ts; Mongezi Velelo b ; Early Mabuse d

LT 5718 Schoolboy

--------- Now

McGregor; poss. Dennis Mpali t (-1); Pukwana; Moyake; Sammy Maritz b; Mabuse

LT 5719 The Blessing Ligth (2 takes)

--------- Take The Coltrane (-1)

Note to (-1): the liners speak of Feza, while the Discography in the booklet states the above.

McGregor; Mongezi Feza tp; Pukwana; Moyake; Maritz; Mabuse

LT 5720 Angelica

--------- Kay (2 takes)

McGregor; Mongezi Feza tp; Pukwana; Moyake; Maritz; Louis Moholo d

LT 5721 Vortex Special

--------- Never Let Me Go

--------- Izithunywa

McGregor; Mongezi Feza tp; Pukwana; Moyake; Maritz; Moholo

LT 1722 Blue Nick

--------- Coming Home (Takes 1 & 2)

--------- Dick's Pick

All recorded in early 1964, Cape Town (no more information known on dates).

I have only had a casual listen to it, but I loved it! (And of course I had to grab the Ellington/Coltrane Impulse CD to dig what a beautiful tune Angelica is!)

Anybody has information on their Ogun albums? Are they available on CD?

ubu

Edited by king ubu
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thanks!

Hey, but no one cares for some comments on the music?

ubu

Maybe it is slightly off topic but I saw Louis Moholo (the drummer) last month playing with Swiss pianist extraordinaire Irene Schweizer.

His recording on the Intak label he did with Irene in the late eighties is great but I was disapointed with him this time round.

Speaking to Irene later at a workshop she also admitted that they where somehow playing in different directions and this was maybe due to Louis not knowing some of the new material. I also did not like his attitude during the concert wondering on and off the stage, acting, or maybe he was slightly under the influence.

Anyway this was my impression.

Irene was fabulous.

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jazz1 - I had read your post about the concert, and SHAME ON ME! being the only swiss guy here, I have NEVER heard Ms Schweizer live! I don't even have one CD of hers - those Intakts are so fucking expensive here... I know some of her stuff through radio, read about her everytime there is a story in some newspaper, but that's about it.

I will check out that record with Moholo, however. He made one on FMP in 88 with Cecil Taylor, too. You know that? (I don't)

Then Schweizer just has a new Intakt CD out with Pierre Favre. He is a GREAT musisician, master drummer and percussionist. At least him I did see/hear a couple of times. He's also a very good bandleader doing interesting projects.

(all off-topic, sorry!)

ubu

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  • 1 year later...

Bringing this thread up again... (I have in the meantime heard Irene Schweizer perform, btw...)

Below are some photos of Chris McGregor and the Blue Notes I found on the www and thought would be nice to share here!

*********************

Early sixties

THE BLUE NOTES Concert at Africana

ON PICT:CHRIS MacGREGOR’S BLUE NOTES from Southafrica f.l.t.r. Nikele Moyakhe,ts Chris MacGregor,p Johnny Dyani,b Louis Moholo,dr

FOTO BY: ART RINGGER

Edited by king ubu
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Thanks for posting those. Very nice!

Just got a boot of the Blue Notes from 79 with Frank Wright sitting in - pretty ramshackle but also quite heavy, as you might imagine.

That one?

Chris McGregor & The Blue Notes

Eindhoven Netherlands

June 21, 1979

Dudu Pukwana - reeds

Rev Frank Wright - reeds

Chris McGregor - piano

Johnny Dyani - bass

Louis Moholo - drums

others unknown

CD1/42:15

CD2/45:36

TT: 87:51

Sound: A-/B+

Lineage: unknown source > cass > Peak > Xact

Note:

A free-blowing late-period session from The Blue Notes.

Anyone know the complete line-up

Got better documentation abou it?

This is not "classic" Blue Note stuff, as far as I can tell, but it's a nice one! They had lost some of their ZA jive feel and soaked in a lot of US blacknuss vibes by then (who wonders, with Rev. Wright in there), still I like this recording!

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One thing I forgot about the pictures above: I took them from the website of a club in Zurich, the "Bazillus" (a semi-legendary illegal club in its early days that has now re-opened legally again).

The "Club Africana" where these photos were taken was a small bar/lounge in a hotel here in Zurich - the hotel's still there, but where the Africana used to be, there's a flower shop now (and ever since I've knewn it). The Africana was the home of Abdullah Ibrahim in his first months of exile, in Zurich, and as far as I know it was there where Sathima (his wife) dragged the Duke to hear him play, after Ellington played a concert (probably at the Kongresshaus in Zurich - not sure of the year, 1961?). Anyway, the Africana helped Swiss jazz getting a mighty dose of ZA "feeling" - you can still hear it in some of the playing of our most important free pianist, Irene Schweizer, who heard Ibrahim back in those days.

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