6 May 2013

Chris McGregor Sextet at the BBC 1967/68



 A couple of vintage gems here, recorded for the BBC in the late 60s.

 First is the Blue Notes Sextet from 1967:

1. Traveling Somewhere
2. Sun Song
3. Sophisticated Lady
4. Pibroch

 BBC Broadcast, late 1967

Mongezi Feza ~ trumpet
Dudu Pukwana ~ alto sax
Chris McGregor ~ piano
Ronnie Beer ~ tenor sax
Dave Holland ~ bass
Louis Moholo ~ drums

Strictly speaking, it is not really the Blue Notes as Johnny Dyani is absent from these recordings, but it's possible it was announced as such at the time.

 Secondly, we have the Chris McGregor Sextet from 1968:

Chris McGregor Sextet
BBC Studio, London

Mongezi Feza (tpt);
Dudu Pukwana (as);
Ronnie Beers (ts);
Chris McGregor (p);
Dave Holland (b);
Laurence Allen (d);
Unknown (ann)

1 Sabendye Baye (C. McGregor) 6:55
2 Introduction 1:10
3 Nikomakwe
4a Fazumizaza Izela (C. McGregor) 4:36
4b Introduction 0:19
5 Yekiti Squidiocious (C. McGregor) 9:43
6 Tikoloshi (C. McGregor)

The titles are taken from the Plosin database, but they match well with the announcements (as far as can be heard).

 I've pieced together the second radio concert from two sources so as to retain the right sequence. I think the announcer could be Ronnie Scott. Anyone knows?

Thanks to online chums for supplying these treasures!

43 comments:

  1. Blue Notes Sextet 1967:

    RS

    Chris McGregor Sextet 1968:

    RS

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  2. Raidshare is such a funny company. First there was a 50 gb cap on daily downloads, then it was raised to 100 gb and now there is nothing on the web site, which could mean that there is no limit. Have they seen the light (due to lost customers)?

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  3. Thanks K. The announcer sounds more like Humphrey Lyttelton to me.

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  4. Thank you Kinablu. I didn't know Dave Holland had played with these boys. Sorry to have dumped the Elton Dean on top so soon but I wanted to get something in for Miloo's birthday.

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  5. Thanks very much for this. I agree about Rapidshare, for me the recent changes have drastically slowed the speed of downloads down.

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  6. No reason to say sorry. Elton Dean has played with (some of) these boys, too.

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  7. Good to hear these sextet sessions, thanks.

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  8. Sounds like Humph to me too.

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  9. Spectacular, thanks kinabalu!

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  10. I assume the drummer is the same Laurie Allen who played in Gunter Hampel's 8th November 1968 Berlin gig, known as "Time is Now", which featured sidemen Sonny Sharrock, John McLaughlin, Arjen Gorter and Pharoah Sanders.

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  11. Thanks very much!

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  12. Many thanks for these gems, Kinabalu!
    In my opinion Rapidshare is ok.

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  13. glmlr, I think that's the right call on the drummer.
    kinabalu - Large thanks to you (as well as your online chums) for this heartwarming music from these beautiful musicians

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  14. Hurray! Thank you for this. And glmlr, Laurie Allen is also on Mbaqanga Songs by Gwigwi Mrwebe (with McGregor, Pukwana, Beer) -MB

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  15. I never expected to hear these. 'Very Urgent' was the first free jazz lp I bought as a schoolboy, cheap in a sale of course, and after repeated hearings grew to love it in certain moods. Thanks for this, although the announcer doesn't sound like Humph to me. The voice sounds familiar, but I just can't place him at the moment.

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  16. Many thanks for these. The announcer sounds to me more like Steve Race than Ronnie Scott or Humphrey Lyttelton, though as it's a BBC Jazz Club broadcast it might be Charles Fox or Peter Clayton, who I think were both presenters around this time.
    And Rapidshare is far from rapid for free downloads.

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  17. By the way is Laurie Allan, not Allen
    http://calyx.perso.neuf.fr/mus/allan_laurie.html

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  18. Laurie Allan it is - and that's what the announcer says, too. I'm not convinced it's Humph. Check this video which has a few clips with Humph and George Melly whose book Revolt into Style ought to be required reading:

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SDCIKV7afW4

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  19. I thought it was Humph with the tape running a little slow. Could easily be wrong though...

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  20. Yes, tape is running a little bit slow...

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  21. Getting back to the announcer bit again. No, it's not Ronnie Scott, either. Too much of a londoner in the way of speech.

    In any case, take the time to watch this one-hour documentary on Ronnie Scott and the club for the stories and the music:

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PrG4LfQBr28

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  22. Ronnie Scott's voice is quickly identifiable from the introductions to Miles gig in Berlin on 1 November 1973, if you happen to have it.

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  23. as well as here:

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5uW0SRgmxkY

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  24. All this talk of Ronnie Scott’s voice or not (not) got me thinking of an old cassette of a radio broadcast with Ronnie introducing recordings from Bracknell Jazz Festival 1978, particularly of the ‘Ornette Coleman Sextet’. Anyway after a LOT of digging I unearthed it and was just transferring it to cdr thinking I’d found a treasure when the tape finished before the music had time to! Anyway, for anybody interested, here it is in all its incompleteness. From Ronnie’s remarks, he wasn’t that impressed. I was there at the festival and, as a journalist reviewed, it ‘was a gas’.

    http://rapidshare.com/files/1586873467/ornette%20bracknell%20'78.rar

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  25. Here's what Ronnie Scott's voice sounded like in 1991:
    http://rapidshare.com/files/3994491986/ronnie%20scott%201991.7z
    The music's not bad either, if a little retro for this blog.

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  26. Was Ronnie ever not retro?! Bless his withering rear-end, I grew up in his club(s) in 64-65.

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  27. Thanks for the Ronnie Scott rebf942. I'm enjoying it. Love it when the comments go off on a tangent. Keep it going.

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  28. Always a pleasure to hear more McGregor. Thanks!

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  29. Thanks for this. The announcer is Humph, his phrasing and intonation give it away, even if it is running a bit slow.

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  30. Thanks kinabalu and everybody involved. Great stuff! Along with Baden Baden meetings and new additions to my collection from Ogun and Reel Recordings, I got a whole Brotherhood festival again. Lots of joy!

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  31. Great music from a golden age. There was another broadcast session on Charles Fox's weekly "Jazz in Britain" with McGregor's first London Big Band - it included Evan Parker and John Surman. I saw this band, minus Surman, a week after the broadcast at Newcastle City Hall as the supporting band to Gary Burton's quartet. It polarised the audience and provoked a near riot with half the audience walking out in protest and the hall management flashing the lights on and off in a vain attempt to stop the set.

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  32. Thanks for your memories, Joe. It is fascinating how Blue Notes / Brotherhood music is totally ahead of its time and how it slowly receives wider appreciation. Completely mine cup of brew!

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  33. Chiquilicuatre y Zappa30 July 2015 at 17:43:00 CEST

    many thanks

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  34. Finally caught up with this !!!
    Many thanks.

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  35. Hi, the 1967 recording is up on ADrive, is it possible to get a link for the 1968 recording too? thanks!

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  36. Seems to be working now, for some strange reason the link was dead when I tried it before, thanks!

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  37. DL link still worked. Thank you.

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  38. I remember the 1967 broadcast, but cannot remember the identity of the announcer. Charles Fox is a likely candidate. These musicians were never advertised as ‘The Blue Notes‘ in the late 60’s; it was always the Chris McGregor Group or Sextet. Dave Holland joined on bass after Johnny Dyani left the band. I saw them in both incarnations many times at Ronnie Scott’s Old Place and, later, the 100 Club. Amazing musicians all.

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