African Johnny Mbizo Dyani

For this session, recorded only six weeks after Afrika on Steeplechase, South African bassist Johnny Dyani continued the use of a six-or seven-member ensemble and inched closer to the sort of music Abdullah Ibrahim, one of his mentors, was creating at around the same time with his band Ekaya. The edgy roughness and avant-garde affinity shown in his earlier ensembles with John Tchicai and Dudu Pukwana have been replaced by a slightly smoother (though, certainly, still rambunctious) sound and more song-oriented pieces. The band's a strong one, however, the compositions are engaging and the soloing imaginative. A couple of the pieces, including "Song for the Workers," still have the aching, bitter quality of his best work…

Johnny Dyani - Afrika (1983) {SteepleChase SCCD 31186 rel 1992}
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© 1983, 1992 SteepleChase | SCCD 31186
Jazz / Jazz Funk / African Jazz / Bass

For Afrika, South African expatriate bassist Johnny Dyani enlarged his group to a septet from the quartet formation he had used on prior Steeplechase recordings and, in the process, shifted gears slightly from the deeper, beautifully bitter songs that had been his forte (such as "House Arrest" on Mbizo) to a somewhat lighter fare, replete with catchy, skipping melodies and funky electric bass. Something of the township feel, so basic to his work, was also lost by replacing Dudu Pukwana with veteran saxman Charles Davis and by the odd inclusion of steel drums which supply a lilting quality.

Johnny Dyani - Witchdoctor's Son (1978) {SteepleChase SCCD-31098}
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© 1978 SteepleChase | SCCD 31186
Jazz / Jazz Funk / African Jazz / Bass

Since his arrival in England as a South African expatriate in the early '60s and as a member of the Blue Notes, bassist Johnny Dyani served as a powerful and creative component of innumerable ensembles (including those led by Abdullah Ibrahim and Chris McGregor) before releasing a series of albums under his own name in the late '70s and '80s. Witchdoctor's Son is certainly one of the best of these, featuring the wonderful dual reed frontline of John Tchicai and fellow ex-pat Dudu Pukwana.

Reissue of a 1979 duo recording of legendary South African bassist Johnny Dyani (of The Blue Notes) and drummer Clifford Jarvis (who played with Sun Ra for over two decades).

A major early release by tenorist Murray, 3D Family appeared originally on Hat Hut records as a double LP before eventually being re-released on disc by hat ART. Murray performs here in a live context with one of his very strongest rhythm sections: the intensely musical South African bassist Johnny Dyani and veteran master drummer Andrew Cyrille. The program consists of all Murray compositions, weaving between burners, funky dances, and soulful ballads…

Dudu Pukwana & John Stevens - Mbizo Radebe, They Shoot to Kill (1987) {Affinity CDAFF775 rel 1991}
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© 1987, 1991 Affinity | CD AFF 775
Jazz / African Jazz / Avant-Garde Jazz / African Traditions / Saxophone / Drums

Dudu Pukwana grew up studying piano in his family but in 1956, he switched to alto sax after meeting tenor sax player Nick Moyake. In 1962, he won first prize at the Johannesburg Jazz Festival with Moyake's Jazz Giants (1962 Gallo/Teal). Chris McGregor then invited him to join the Blue Notes; the interracial sextet, increasingly harassed by authorities, went into exile in 1964, playing in France, Zurich, and London.

The arrival in London in the 1960s of the South African Blue Notes brought new sounds and a new attitude that had an incalculable influence. This historic five-CD set starts with the band live in South Africa in 1964, shortly before apartheid drove it out of the country. None of the members has survived except drummer Louis Moholo, and two of the sessions (from 1975 and 1986) commemorated the departures of trumpeter Mongezi Feza and bassist Johnny Dyani. The 1964 gig, a long way from hi-fi but as raucously atmospheric as sitting in a club, finds them in their early, rough-edged hard-bop and Monkish mode ~ Guardian