Louis Moholo is one of the world’s greatest free drummers. Ample in personality, Moholo speaks forthrightly of the pain of exile and freedom, and his music — all of which are inextricably linked. The damp, grey London seeping into his small flat fails to dampen his passion for music. It’s 1993, a week ahead of his first South African performance in nearly three decades, and the master drummer is excited as he anticipates performing before a home crowd.Fast forward to a few weeks ago, literally a decade after that first meeting. Again, Moholo prepares for performance on home soil. This time we’re in downtown Johannesburg, and the place is Nicki’s bar with its typical Friday-night buzz. The black professionals frequenting the watering hole fail to recognise the timekeeper often compared to Elvin Jones, a legend right up there with United States ”stick masters” Roy Haynes and Max Roach.Moholo is the last surviving member of the famed Blue Notes that featured saxophonist Dudu Pukwana, pianist Chris McGregor, bassist Johnny Dyani and trumpeter Mongezi Feza. This quintet arrived in Britain in the mid-Sixties with their own brand of jazz, which was influenced by traditional African folk music and the improvisational innovations of John Coltrane and Duke Ellington. It was a fusion that allowed them to fit into Europe’s free jazz scene with ease. London photographer Val Wilmer recorded their arrival and watched them invigorate the British jazz scene, which was lumbering under the strain of the big-band sounds in an era that changed to favour smaller bebop outfits. Wilmer observed that The Blue Notes ”literally overturned the London jazz scene”. It was the freedom to express that made the difference, observes Moholo. ”Freedom made sense to me. I was looking for it all the time … But it was in me before then but I didn’t recognise it until I came to Europe.”On the surface, this 63-year-old pioneer is a simple lad from Langa with a passion for jazz. Not one to blow his own horn, but should the need arise he’s quick to remind you of his stature. On another level, he’s still the iconic father of London’s South African jazz community, and since the death of his contemporaries he watches over the emerging talents of the next generation.Watching the Friday evening go by over beer and memories, after the launch of the Return to Roots tour that will take place in Gauteng from June 13 to 16, Moholo tells of his pleasure at being home again. It may only be his second South African billing since leaving the country nearly 40 years ago, but it marks the closing of the circle that began when, under the shadow
of the Sharpeville massacre in 1960,
this country produced some of its most original music. The circle begins to close with the emergence of a new generation of innovators in pianist Bheki Mseleku, saxophonist Zim Ngqawana, trumpeters Feya Faku and Marcus Wyatt, as well as pianist Andile Yenana. Add to them Moholo’s London protégés in the Pheto brothers, Jibo (acoustic bass) and Pule Peto (piano), percussionists Thomas Dyani and Thebe Lepere and saxophonist Ntshukumo Bonga, who are mostly still abroad. In recognition of the new generation’s avant-garde flag flying, Moholo has called on their talents for the Return to Roots tour. Working with him will be the Pheto brothers, Faku, Wyatt, drummer Lulu Gontsana, saxophonists Khaya Mahlangu, Barney Rachabane, Robbie Jansen and acoustic bassist Herbie Tsoali. They share the platform with Londoners Steve Beresford (pianist), John Edwards (bassist), Francine Luce (vocalist) and Jason Yarde (saxophonist).The seeds of Moholo’s musical roots were planted by marching bands that often passed through Cape Town’s townships. It was the guy in the front with the big bass drum that fascinated the aspiring drummer. ”This cat used to excite me.”It was while playing with legendary Cape saxophonist ”Cups” Nkanuka’s Cordettes in the mid-1950s that his destiny was decided. Unfortunately, Moholo’s entry into the professional ranks of music coincided with the tightening grip of Afrikaner nationalism. It was not long before Moholo and his drum set would be well-hidden behind curtains as he accompanied white musicians in Cape Town clubs. While this heavy atmosphere gave rise to two of the country’s seminal bands, the Jazz Epistles and The Blue Notes, much of the talent would choose exile. After all these years the rigours of exile manifest themselves on Moholo’s aging features, none more so than when he speaks of Feza, who died from pneumonia in London in 1975. It was this prospect, it seems, that deterred more mature Blue Notes members of the original band. Bassist Dyani replaced a reluctant Sammy Maritz, while tenorman Nikele Moyake only made it to Switzerland before returning home when the rest of the band moved on to London.In some ways it was their youth that made it all an adventure. None were beyond their mid-twenties when Moholo, Pukwana, McGregor, Dyani and Feza arrived in London. These guys were more than just good friends. ”There was no mother, no father, you’re on your own black man.”In moving to the capital of Britain in the 1960s they were choosing to be situated in the world’s mecca of music. ”Everything was happening. The Beatles were here. Jimi Hendrix, The Rolling Stones, Wes Montgomery, you name them. Unlike in Switzerland where we upset the musicians because they were into the American stuff, we were into something else and they couldn’t take us. But here, they could take us because were talking the same language.”Guitarist Wes Montgomery contributed to their breakthrough by recommending The Blue Notes to Ronnie Scott’s, London’s premier jazz venue. ”We were lucky because there were a lot of people who came to Britain around the same time as we did who didn’t make it.” Moholo was the first to break away from The Blue Notes, describing the parting as painful. Soon after the break-up he and Dyani joined saxophonist Steve Lacy and Enrico Rava for a gig in Argentina. For the South Africans, Argentina was the stepping stone to North America and eventually New York, where they hoped to link up with Albert Ayler. ”When we went there, we were innovators. We were kings, I tell you. It was really nice to be in this position.” Returning to London The Blue Notes made the only recording featuring all five members. From there their paths separated. Moholo and Pukwana remained in London, McGregor finally settled in France, while Dyani chose Sweden, with Feza moving between the two countries. Looking back, Moholo regrets not spending more time on stage with Dyani. ”I would have liked to have been with Johnny’s band Witchdoctor’s Son.”When Feza died, the remaining Blue Notes members held the wake in the studio, playing what Moholo was to describe as prayer music. ”It was moving, very touching. You hear it in the music. It was really coming from the heart.” The tradition continued when Dyani died in 1986. But 1991 saw the death of both Pukwana and McGregor, within weeks of each other, leaving Moholo empty outside of his music.He is empty without his ”blood brothers”, but he knows the battle is far from over. The musical revolutionary that is King Louis is leading a new army, whose foot soldiers know that in the same way mental chains are breaking here at home, so must the musical barriers go down. — Â