History
Joy was a jazz group who recorded an album, Joy for Cadillac in 1976. The group was made up of members from the UK, US, Caribbean and South Africa. The musicians on the album were James Dvorak on trumpet, Frank Roberts on piano, Ernest Mothle on bass, Keith Bailey on drums, and Chris Francis on alto saxophone. [4] Years later, Cadillac Records got in touch with the surviving members of the band. Unfortunately, Ernest Mothle, the South African bassist had since died. However, Cadillac discovered that drummer Keith Bailey was already working on a reissue. Getting hold of the master tapes turned out to be well worth the effort. In addition to the vinyl record album being re-released, there were additional recordings for the compact disc's release. [5]
In October 2023 the label celebrated its fiftieth year. The event was held at the Cafe OTO where some of the key people in UK jazz were in attendance. A film, The Real McGregor, a 1967 film about Chris McGregor and his group, The Blue Notes had been unearthed by Dr Paul DJ Moody, and for the first time in about a half a century was shown at the event. The event was filmed at the cafe which was full to capacity. [6]
On Thursday 7 December 2023, Cadillac Records received a Presto award for the Joy album re-release for the "Best Archive/Reissue" of the Year album. Due to Mike Westbrook being unable to attend, Matthew Wright accepted it on his behalf. There to present the award was Barney Whittaker of Presto Music. [7]
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Mthutuzeli Dudu Pukwana was a South African saxophonist and composer.
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Ogun Records is a jazz record label created in London in 1973 by South African expatriate bassist Harry Miller, his wife Hazel Miller, and sound engineer Keith Beal. They recorded British avant-garde jazz musicians Keith Tippett, Mike Osborne, Elton Dean, Lol Coxhill, Harry Beckett, Trevor Watts and their collaborations with expatriate South Africans, including the Blue Notes, Chris McGregor, Dudu Pukwana, Mongezi Feza, Louis Moholo, and Johnny Dyani in groups like McGregor's Brotherhood of Breath, Dean's Ninesense, and Miller's Isipingo.
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In His Good Time is a live solo piano album by Chris McGregor. Dedicated to "the ONE who brings all things to be in His Good Time," it was recorded on November 18, 1977, at the Palais des Glaces in Paris, and was released on LP in 1979 by Ogun Records. In 2012, Ogun reissued the album on CD in expanded form, with the first eight tracks presenting the concert's first set as a continuous performance, and the remaining tracks extracted from the second set. The music includes originals, traditional pieces, and tunes composed by McGregor's colleagues Mongezi Feza and Dudu Pukwana.
Blue Notes in Concert Volume 1 is a live album by The Blue Notes, featuring saxophonist Dudu Pukwana, pianist Chris McGregor, bassist Johnny Dyani, and drummer Louis Moholo. It was recorded on April 16, 1977, at the 100 Club in London, and was released on vinyl in 1978 by Ogun Records. In 2022, Ogun reissued the album in expanded form on CD with the title Blue Notes in Concert, using tracks that originally appeared on the 2008 compilation The Ogun Collection.
The Ogun Collection is a five-CD box set compilation album by The Blue Notes, featuring saxophonists Nick Moyake and Dudu Pukwana, trumpeter Mongezi Feza, pianist Chris McGregor, double bassist Johnny Dyani, and drummer Louis Moholo. It brings together the contents of four albums previously released by Ogun Records: Legacy: Live in South Afrika 1964 ; Blue Notes for Mongezi ; Blue Notes in Concert ; and Blue Notes for Johnny. The latter three albums appear here in expanded form. The Ogun Collection, which also includes a booklet containing photos and essays, was released by Ogun in 2008. In 2022, the label reissued all four albums as stand-alone releases, using the expanded versions found on the compilation.
Joy is a jazz album by the group Joy that was originally released in 1976. It was re-released in May 2023 to positive reception.
