Basil "Manenberg" Coetzee was a South African musician,perhaps best known as a saxophonist.
Abdullah Ibrahim is a South African pianist and composer. His music reflects many of the musical influences of his childhood in the multicultural port areas of Cape Town,ranging from traditional African songs to the gospel of the AME Church and Ragas,to more modern jazz and other Western styles. Ibrahim is considered the leading figure in the subgenre of Cape jazz. Within jazz,his music particularly reflects the influence of Thelonious Monk and Duke Ellington. He is known especially for "Mannenberg",a jazz piece that became a notable anti-apartheid anthem.
Johnny Mbizo Dyani was a South African jazz double bassist,vocalist and pianist,who,in addition to being a key member of The Blue Notes,played with such international musicians as Don Cherry,Steve Lacy,David Murray,Finnish guitar player Jukka Syrenius,Pierre Dørge,Peter Brötzmann,Mal Waldron,fellow South African Dollar Brand,and Leo Smith,among many other prominent players.
Cape jazz is a genre of jazz that is performed in the very southern part of Africa,the name being a reference to Cape Town,South Africa. Some writers say that Cape jazz began to emerge in 1959 with the formation of The Jazz Epistles,many of whom were from Cape Town,including Abdullah Ibrahim,then known as Dollar Brand. Cape jazz is similar to the popular music style known as marabi,though more improvisational in character. Where marabi is a piano jazz style,Cape jazz in the beginning featured instruments that can be carried in a street parade,such as brass instruments,banjos,guitars and percussion instruments.
South African jazz is the jazz of South Africa.
Carlos Ward is a funk and jazz alto saxophonist and flautist. He is best known as a member of the Funk and disco band BT Express as well as a jazz sideman.
Brian Abrahams is a South African jazz drummer and vocalist.
Beatrice "Sathima Bea" Benjamin was a South African vocalist and composer,based for nearly 45 years in New York City.
African Dawn is a solo piano album by Abdullah Ibrahim.
The Journey is a long-form instrumental jazz album composed and led by South African pianist Abdullah Ibrahim after his move to New York City. This studio recording was made the day after the 17 September 1977 Alice Tully Hall concert pictured on the cover and included other veterans of Ibrahim's group Universal Silence:Don Cherry,Johnny Dyani,and Carlos Ward.
Orient is a live album by jazz/world music musician Don Cherry recorded in 1971 and released on the BYG label in Japan in 1974,originally untitled. When reissued in the UK by Affinity Records in 1980,it was issued with the title "Orient." Later reissues have continued to use the same title. In 2003,Charly Records reissued the album along with Blue Lake on the compilation Orient / Blue Lake.
"Mannenberg" is a Cape jazz song by South African musician Abdullah Ibrahim,first recorded in 1974. Driven into exile by the apartheid government,Ibrahim had been living in Europe and the United States during the 1960s and '70s,making brief visits to South Africa to record music. After a successful 1974 collaboration with producer Rashid Vally and a band that included Basil Coetzee and Robbie Jansen,Ibrahim began to record another album with these three collaborators and a backing band assembled by Coetzee. The song was recorded during a session of improvisation,and includes a saxophone solo by Coetzee,which led to him receiving the sobriquet "Manenberg".
Reflections is a solo piano album recorded in 1965 by Abdullah Ibrahim.
African Sketchbook is an album by Abdullah Ibrahim,recorded in 1969.
Buddy Tate Meets Dollar Brand,reissued as Buddy Tate Meets Abdullah Ibrahim:The Legendary Encounter,is an album by saxophonist Buddy Tate and pianist Dollar Brand which was recorded in New York City in 1977 and released on the Chiaroscuro label.
Mu,First Part and Second Part,is a pair of albums by multi-instrumentalist Don Cherry. The albums,which also feature drummer Ed Blackwell,were recorded in August 1969 at Studio Saravah in Paris,and were released by BYG Records as part of their Actuel series in 1969 and 1970. In 1971,BYG released both parts together as a single box set. Mu was one of the first efforts in what would come to be known as world music.
Witchdoctor's Son is an album by bassist and pianist Johnny Dyani. It was recorded on March 15,1978,and was released on LP later that year by SteepleChase Records. On the album,Dyani is joined by saxophonists John Tchicai and Dudu Pukwana,guitarist Alfredo Do Nascimento,and percussionists Mohamed Al-Jabry and Luez "Chumi" Carlos De Sequarira. In 1987,the album was reissued on CD with four extra tracks.
Angolian Cry is an album by bassist Johnny Dyani. It was recorded on July 23,1985,and was issued on LP later that year by SteepleChase Records. On the album,his final release as a leader,Dyani is joined by saxophonist and bass clarinetist John Tchicai,trumpeter Harry Beckett,and drummer Billy Hart. In 1986,the album was reissued on CD with an extra track.
Blue Notes for Johnny is an album by The Blue Notes,featuring saxophonist Dudu Pukwana,pianist Chris McGregor,and drummer Louis Moholo. It was recorded on August 18,1987,at Redan Studios in London,and was released on vinyl later that year by Ogun Records. In 2022,Ogun reissued the album in expanded form on CD,using tracks that originally appeared on the 2008 compilation The Ogun Collection.
Echoes from Africa is an album of duets by pianist Abdullah Ibrahim and double bassist Johnny Dyani. It was recorded on September 7,1979,at Tonstudio Bauer in Ludwigsburg,Germany,and was released later that year by Enja Records. The album features a traditional piece,a composition by Mackay Davashe,and two pieces by Ibrahim,one of which is dedicated to fellow pianist McCoy Tyner.
