IT'S a significant jazz moment: the re-issue of four powerful, vibrant and deeply moving albums on Ogun Records of the Blue Notes, the South African band which fomented so much dynamism and change in British jazz when they released themselves from apartheid and arrived in London after playing at the 1964 Antibes Jazz Festival.

Their first appearance in 1965 at Ronnie Scott’s Old Place in Soho’s Gerrard Street introduced astonishing new sounds, new beats, new inspiration, new musical resistance and the inspiration of direct African artistry into the British jazz scene.

There were six of them. The oldest was tenor saxophonist Nikele “Nick” Moyake (1933-1966) who soon returned to South Africa and died soon after; alto saxophonist Dudu Pukwana (1938-1990); bassist Johnny Dyani (1945-1986); drummer Louis Moholo-Moholo (born 1940); pianist Chris McGregor (1936-1990) and trumpeter Mongezi Feza (1945-1975).

Brixton-born in 1940, a founder of Ogun Records was Hazel Miller. She told me: “My father was a keen opera lover, taking me to classical concerts in the late ’40s. As a teenager, by chance I was passing a pub in Leicester Square on an exploratory visit ‘to town’ with friends. I discovered I was listening to the Stan Tracey Quartet — the music just drew me into its magic!

“I met Harry Miller, the Cape Town bassist, in 1963. We ended up living together and got married. I managed his work schedule and when the Blue Notes came to London he was so happy, joining up again with home musicians. Without record releases it was difficult getting bookings. The majors weren’t interested, so we started our own label, Ogun, in 1973.”

What was it about the Blue Notes and their music that provoked such a storm amongst London jazz musicians of the era? “Their music was full of excitement, energy and joy,” exclaimed Hazel. “Their approach was to explore being free within a group structure. So many different directions were taken. It was a part of their fight for freedom from Apartheid. As part of their musical language they were singing and dancing. It captivated musicians and listeners. Their music was a part of their roots — they were from a very musical nation. Even in their words, their languages, the music came out.

“And they were so friendly. They welcomed all musicians who felt a similar passion to be free, so it was inevitable that the influences went many ways.”

Musicians like Evan Parker, Harry Beckett, Keith Tippett, Alan Skidmore, John Surman, John Stevens, Mike Osborne, Elton Dean — all powerful British players of their era joined with them in the Brotherhood of Breath, and other bands. “They added a new artistic dimension to the development of jazz and improvised music during that wonderful time,” said Hazel.

“They were the heart of an entire nation of musicians. I remember my first visit to meet Harry’s family. We travelled through Swaziland. We toured mountains and forests, so beautiful!

“We passed an elderly gentleman playing his bass by the roadside — a large wooden box with a stick and wire. We stopped and told him Harry played the bass too and we had travelled from London. He started singing a song about our passing all the way from London to there, and as I stared at the wonderful vista I realised where the Blue Notes’ music came from. You could feel it all around in his notes.”

These four Blue Notes albums are indeed precious. The first, Live in South Africa, 1964 was recorded in Durban just before they left for Europe. Moyake’s proud and beautiful solo on I Cover the Waterfront assails your ears and heart. “He was the father of the band,” says Hazel.

The 1977 recording, Blue Notes in Concert, was waxed live in London’s 100 Club, and the band had already lost Feza, whose life and brilliance was celebrated in the third album, Blue Notes for Mongezi.
    
Hazel describes him as “truly original, a very special musician. No-one was like him. He was also an excellent composer whose tunes have been played all around the world. Lost too soon!” As his bandmates play their long tribute, suddenly you hear Pukwana playing very softly Ol’ Man River as McGregor pounds his keys and Dyani’s bass booms out. It is a telling moment.

The fourth album is Blue Notes for Johnny, recorded in 1987 after Dyani’s death in Berlin. Now a trio, the surviving Blue Notes give their loving tribute to another lost confrere.

It is a compelling amalgam of deep sadness, joy and eternal creation, including many of Dyani’s tunes and the haunting traditional theme Nytilo, Nytilo enveloping the South African freedom anthem Nkosi Sikelele L’Afrika. “They all had big hearts and ears,” said Hazel, “and Johnny had a big rounded sound which fitted into whatever direction the musicians were creating.”

What about the Blue Notes’ now-times impact upon new generations of musicians, I ask Hazel. “Their sound was so strong, you can hear their musical pathways in the notes of younger musicians even now, particularly those who play with Louis, the last survivor.

“Their music continually encompasses new and young talent, even after 60 years.”

Blue Notes albums Live in South Africa, 1964, Blue Notes in Concert, for Mongezi and for Johnny are released by Ogun Records.