With the death of drummer Louis Moholo-Moholo in Cape Town on Friday 13 June a great sadness reverberated through the jazz world. He was the final member of the widely acclaimed, well-loved and influential Blue Notes, who in 1964 left the odious and repressive apartheid system of South Africa to live in exile in London; South Africa’s loss was our gain.
Born in Langa, Cape Town in 1940, Louis played with drummer Early Mabuza before forming his own band, The Chordettes, in 1956. In 1962 he joined Dudu Pukwana’s Jazz Giants, winning best-drummer award at the Johannesburg Jazz Festival, and was also with Ronnie Beer’s Swinging City Six. The following year found him playing with Dudu in pianist Chris McGregor’s Blue Notes, which toured the country and attempted to evade the pernicious laws and the attention of the police.
The opportunity to leave the country came in 1964, with an invitation to play at the Antibes Festival in France, but what was planned as a temporary departure became permanent as once there, the Blue Notes decided not to return – a monumental personal decision. After a stint at the Afrikaner Cafe in Zurich (arranged by Abdullah Ibrahim, then known as Dollar Brand), the invitation to appear at Ronnie Scott’s came.
Jazz Journal’s Dave Illingworth wrote ‘This combo is playing some of the most unrelenting and fierce jazz in Britain,’ singling out Louis’s ‘blistering attack’ and describing it as ‘some of the most rewarding jazz to be heard in London today’
They soon established themselves in London with a style that bridged the gap between African jazz and the hard bop of Art Blakey and others. At the same time, Louis established his reputation and word soon got round of his exciting and dynamic playing. This resulted in work with Roswell Rudd and John Tchicai, whilst Steve Lacy signed him (and bassist and Blue Notes colleague Johnny Dyani) for a tour of Italy and America, recording The Forest And The Zoo for ESP-Disk during their time in Buenos Aires in 1966.
In London in 1967 McGregor formed his big band The Brotherhood of Breath, with the Blue Notes as the core and involving many of leading Britain-based jazz musicians and improvisers. Jazz Journal’s Dave Illingworth wrote “This combo is playing some of the most unrelenting and fierce jazz in Britain,” singling out Louis’s “blistering attack” and describing it as “some of the most rewarding jazz to be heard in London today”.
McGregor’s sextet recorded Very Urgent (Polydor) in 1968. Ornette Coleman, apparently impressed after seeing them at the (Ronnie’s) Old Place, was in the studio for it. 1969 saw Louis working at Peanuts, near Liverpool Street, as part of a trio with compatriot bassist Harry Miller and alto saxophonist Mike Osborne, and over the next few years they made some of the most direct, devastating and energetic music ever heard – work which continues to be the yardstick for other trios. Fortunately for us, recordings of it are still available on Ogun.
During this period the Melody Maker’s Richard Williams, with fellow writers Val Wilmer and Max Jones, were instrumental in supporting the various bands Louis was involved with, recognising their ability, flair and importance, and encouraging readers to visit clubs to hear the exciting sounds being produced.
Further explorations within the music ensued and there were collaborations with Stan Tracey, Enrico Rava, Archie Shepp, Evan Parker, Irene Schweizer, Rüdiger Carl, Cecil Taylor, Derek Bailey, Wadada Leo Smith, Misha Mengelberg, Keith Tippett, Sean Bergin and many others. He appeared at the 1980 Bracknell Festival with fellow drummer Andrew Cyrille and November of that year found him playing at the 100 Club with the Rev. Frank Wright. He was a regular member of Harry Miller’s Isipingo and Elton Dean’s Ninesense, and in the 80s he toured America with Peter Brotzmann.
He recorded extensively, particularly for FMP (Free Music Productions), but kept returning to Ogun, the label started by his long-time friends, Harry and Hazel Miller. After Harry’s untimely death in 1983, Hazel continued to be responsible for promoting and recording the Blue Notes, the Brotherhood, the Dedication Orchestra and all the associated bands. The next release – Larry Stabbins, Keith Tippett and Louis Moholo-Moholo Live In Foggia (1985) – is due out next month.
Louis’s own bands evolved – Spirits Rejoice debuted at the 100 Club in January 1978, recording the first album under his own name the following day; Viva La Black included younger members of the South African and Caribbean diaspora, showing what an inspiration he was for a new generation of players, as he merged African rhythms, via hard bop, into free jazz.
After the fall of apartheid and regime change in South Africa, Louis and his wife Mpumi returned to live there in 2005. He had met Mpumi, a nurse who had qualified at the McCord Nursing College, during his visit in 1973 to South Africa to see his mother. They married soon after, Mpumi returning to London with Louis. An activist who dedicated her life to social issues and freedom, she also arranged gigs and took care of the administrative aspects of Louis’s life, giving encouragement and support. She died in 2021, Louis recording An Open Letter To My Wife Mpumi for Ogun a month later.
Louis had continued to visit Europe, London in particular, where he established himself as a regular at Café Oto in Dalston, with either his quartet or his band Five Blokes. His bands were renowned for their force and vitality, directed and inspired by Louis’s percussive and rhythmic batteries, explosions of controlled aggression and contrasting passages of warmth and gentleness.
When Richard Williams wrote of the quartet, live at Café Oto in 2014, that “There were long stretches of time… when I found myself wondering why I would ever bother to listen to anything else… That’s how it gets you,” he was speaking for all of us. Such was the impact of Louis’s music: joyous and spirit-lifting.
Louis Moholo-Moholo, drummer and composer. 10 March 1940 – 13 June 2025
