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The South African influence on British jazz started with Chris McGregor (1936),
a white pianist who in 1960 had organized in South Africa a mixed-race group, the Blue Notes: Mongezi Feza on trumpet, Dudu Pukwana on alto saxophone, Nikele Moyake on tenor saxophone, Johnny Dyani on bass and Louis Moholo on drums.
Chris McGregor's ensemble The Castle Lager Big Band released The African Sound (september 1963): Kippie Moeketsi and Dudu Pukwana on alto sax, Mongezi Feza on trumpet, Roonie Beer on tenor sax, etc.
After emigrating to Britain in 1964,
they recorded
Township Bop, (early 1964)
Live In South Afrika 1964,
and
Very Urgent (december 1967).
In 1970 the group expanded to include young British improvisers such as
saxophonists John Surman, Mike Osborne and Alan Skidmore,
trombonists Malcolm Griffiths and Nick Evans,
and trumpeter Marc Charig, and became the Brotherhood Of Breath.
The sound of this big band blended Duke Ellington's paradigmatic swing style
with ethnic township rhythms, jazz-rock and free jazz, with McGregor's arrangements enabling challenging scores such as the 21-minute Night Poem on Chris McGregor's Brotherhood of Breath (october 1970).
Brotherhood (1971), also featuring Gary Windo, was less cohesive
but contained Joyful Noises Of The Lord.
Evan Parker, Paul Rutherford and Kenny Wheeler also played in the band at
different points in time.
Other recordings were of the Brotherhood were:
Travelling Somwhere (january 1973),
Procession (may 1977),
Yes Please (june 1981).
Meanwhile the Blue Notes were documented on
Blue Notes For Mongezi (december 1975),
Blue Notes In Concert (april 1977) ,
Before The Wind Changes (july 1979), containing
the 22-minute Funk Dem Dudu and the 18-minute Lakutshona Ilanga,
and Blue Notes For Johnny (august 1987), dedicated to Dyani who died in 1986.
Traveling SOmewhere (Cuneiform, 2001),
Bremen to Bridgewater (Cuneiform, 2004),
Eclipse at Dawn (Cuneiform, 2008)
document live performances.
McGregor died in 1990.
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