Verse 1 by the Jazz Epistles is “a genuine hard bop session, swinging and persuasive, coming out of South Africa in an era when black musicians weren’t making any recordings, let alone forward-looking modern jazz albums.”
The Jazz Epistles were South Africa’s first important (albeit short-lived) bebop band, inspired by Art Blakey‘s Jazz Messengers.
Wikipedia
“This story hasn’t been told because it’s a hidden history,” says Dr. Sazi Dlamini, an ethnomusicologist at the University of Kwazulu-Natal. “It’s waiting to be told. It can be told from so many angles. And it would take a really very focused research and attention to be able to tell it in its entirety.” NPR
The Jazz Epistles are:
- piano: Dollar Brand (Abdullah Ibrahim)
- alto sax, clarinet: Kippie Moeketsi
- trombone: Jonas Gwangwa
- trumpet: Hugh Masekela
- bass: Johnny Gertze
- drums: Makaya Ntshoko
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