Mthutuzeli Dudu Pukwana was a South African saxophonist and composer.
Christopher McGregor was a South African jazz pianist, bandleader and composer born in Somerset West, South Africa.
Mongezi Feza was a South African jazz trumpeter and flautist.
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.
Keith Graham Tippetts, known professionally as Keith Tippett, was a British jazz pianist and composer. According to AllMusic, Tippett's career "...spanned jazz-rock, progressive rock, improvised and contemporary music, as well as modern jazz for more than half-a-century". He held "an unparallelled place in British contemporary music," and was known for "his unique approach to improvisation". Tippett appeared and recorded in many settings, including a duet with Stan Tracey, duets with his wife Julie Tippetts, solo performances, and as a bandleader.
Harold Simon Miller was a South African jazz double bassist, who lived for most of his adulthood in England.
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.
The Brotherhood of Breath was an English-South African big band established in the late-1960s by South African pianist and composer Chris McGregor, an extension of McGregor's previous band, The Blue Notes.
The Blue Notes were a South African jazz sextet, whose definitive line-up featured Chris McGregor on piano, Mongezi Feza on trumpet, Dudu Pukwana on alto saxophone, Nikele Moyake on tenor saxophone, Johnny Dyani on bass, and Louis Moholo-Moholo on drums. After moving away from their home country in 1964, they established themselves on the European jazz circuit, where they continued to play and record through the 1970s. They are now considered one of the great free jazz bands of their era, whose music was given a unique flavour by their integration of African styles such as Kwela into the progressive jazz ideas of the time.
Larry Stabbins is a British jazz saxophonist, flutist and composer.
Spiritual Knowledge and Grace is a live album by drummer Louis Moholo-Moholo, saxophonist Dudu Pukwana, bassist and pianist Johnny Dyani, and saxophonist Frank Wright. It was recorded on June 22, 1979, at Jazzclub De Markt in Eindhoven, Holland, and was released in 2011 by Ogun Records.
Travelling Somewhere is a live album by South African pianist and composer Chris McGregor's big band Brotherhood of Breath. It was recorded on January 19, 1973, at Lila Eule, a jazz club in Bremen, Germany, and was released by Cuneiform Records in 2001. The recording took place eight days before the concert heard on Live at Willisau.
Procession (Live at Toulouse) is a live album by South African pianist and composer Chris McGregor's big band Brotherhood of Breath. It was recorded on May 10, 1977, at Halle aux Grains in Toulouse, France, and was released on LP by Ogun Records in 1978. In 2013, Ogun reissued the album on CD with three extra tracks.
Blue Notes for Mongezi is an album by The Blue Notes, featuring saxophonist Dudu Pukwana, pianist Chris McGregor, bassist Johnny Dyani, and drummer Louis Moholo. It was recorded on December 23, 1975, in a rehearsal room in London, and was released on vinyl as a double album in 1976 by Ogun Records. In 2022, Ogun reissued the album in expanded form as a double-CD set, using tracks that originally appeared on the 2008 compilation The Ogun Collection.
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.
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.
Legacy: Live in South Afrika 1964 is a live 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 was recorded during 1964 in Durban, South Africa, shortly before the group fled the country's apartheid regime and went into exile in Europe, and was released in 1995 by Ogun Records. The music was reissued in 2008 as part of the compilation The Ogun Collection, and was reissued again as a stand-alone release in 2022.
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.
Before the Wind Changes is a live album by The Blue Notes, featuring alto saxophonist Dudu Pukwana, pianist Chris McGregor, double bassist Johnny Dyani, and drummer Louis Moholo-Moholo. It was recorded on July 1, 1979, at Jazzclub De Hoop in Waregem, Belgium, and was released in 2012 by Ogun Records.
For the Blue Notes is a live album by the Louis Moholo-Moholo Unit, led by drummer Moholo-Moholo, and featuring saxophonists Ntshuks Bonga and Jason Yarde, trumpeter Henry Lowther, trombonist Alan Tomlinson, vocalist Francine Luce, pianist Alexander Hawkins, and double bassist John Edwards. It was recorded on March 4, 2012, at Theatre Manzoni in Milan, Italy, and was released in 2014 by Ogun Records. The album pays tribute to The Blue Notes, the South African jazz ensemble of which Moholo-Moholo is the only surviving member.
