Christopher McGregor (24 December 1936 – 26 May 1990) was a South African

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana, in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Its roots are in blues, ragtime, European harmony, African rhythmic rituals, spirituals, h ...

pianist, bandleader and composer born in

Somerset West Somerset West () is a town in the Western Cape, South Africa. Organisationally and administratively it is included in the City of Cape Town metropolitan municipality (South Africa), metropolitan municipality Eastern Suburbs zone (formerly called ...

, South Africa.

Early influences

McGregor grew up in the then Transkei (now part of the Eastern Cape Province), where his father was headmaster at a Church of Scotland mission institution called Blythswood. Here McGregor was exposed to the music of the local amaXhosa people. This music, as explained in Dave Dargie's book ''Xhosa Music'', is complex. Dargie mentions the following as examples of this complexity which might be seen to have influenced McGregor in his own music, both as composer/arranger and as band leader: "...a great number of style characteristics are to be found: relating not only to harmony and scale, but to melody, structure and phrasing, form, rhythm, instrumentation, singing techniques, and so on." In his book ''Chasing the Vibration'' Graham Lock quotes McGregor saying: "I have this strong imaginative reference to African village music, and the thing I know about that music is that it has a strong centre. It builds up, a lot of people do things together that they know."

Early career

After school and a stint in the merchant navy training academy The General Botha at Gordon's Bay in the Western Cape in 1952–53, McGregor enrolled at the South African College of Music, then headed by Professor Eric Chisholm. Here McGregor was exposed to a different set of influences, during the day

Béla Bartók Béla Viktor János Bartók (; ; 25 March 1881 – 26 September 1945) was a Hungarian composer, pianist and ethnomusicologist. He is considered one of the most important composers of the 20th century; he and Franz Liszt are regarded as Hunga ...

and

Arnold Schoenberg Arnold Schoenberg or Schönberg (13 September 187413 July 1951) was an Austrian and American composer, music theorist, teacher and writer. He was among the first Modernism (music), modernists who transformed the practice of harmony in 20th-centu ...

, and at night recordings of

Duke Ellington Edward Kennedy "Duke" Ellington (April 29, 1899 – May 24, 1974) was an American Jazz piano, jazz pianist, composer, and leader of his eponymous Big band, jazz orchestra from 1924 through the rest of his life. Born and raised in Washington, D ...

and Thelonious Monk, and the live music of local jazz musicians such as Dollar Brand (now Abdullah Ibrahim), Cecil Barnard (now Hotep Idris Galeta), Christopher Columbus Ngcukana, Vincent Kolbe, "Cup-and-Saucers" Nkanuka, Monty Weber, the Schilder brothers, and many others who were active in the vibrant Cape jazz scene at that time, the mid-1950s. The vibrancy and power of this music has led some to designate the music played around Cape Town as a particular jazz genre called " Cape Jazz." (Miller, 2007). While at the SA College of Music, McGregor studied composition with Stanley Glasser, who later wrote the music for ''Mr Paljas'' – a musical that played at the Labia Theatre in Cape Town around 1962 – Chris McGregor was band leader and pianist in the theatre band, which consisted of Dudu Pukwana and Nick Peterson on alto saxes, Cornelius Kumalo on baritone sax and clarinet, Denis Mpali on trumpet, Blyth Mbityana on trombone, Joe Mal on bass, and Columbus Joya on drums. An LP of the show, ''Mr Paljas'', was released by Gallotone Records (GALP 1207). As McGregor's friend and fellow-student Bruce Arnott wrote in the

University of Cape Town The University of Cape Town (UCT) (, ) is a public university, public research university in Cape Town, South Africa. Established in 1829 as the South African College, it was granted full university status in 1918, making it the oldest univer ...

's alumni magazine after McGregor's death in 1990: "I am no musicologist, but I believe that Chris was working toward a synthesis of South African black traditional music and the wonderfully evolved black American contribution to jazz." McGregor put together a group to perform at the 1962 Moroka-Jabavu jazz festival in the Johannesburg suburb of

Soweto Soweto () is a Township (South Africa), township of the City of Johannesburg Metropolitan Municipality in Gauteng, South Africa, bordering the city's mining belt in the south. Its name is an English syllabic abbreviation for ''South Western T ...

. This group consisted of Mzimkulu "Danayi" Dlova on alto, Chris Ngcukana on baritone, Ronnie Beer on tenor, Willie Netie on trombone, Sammy Maritz on bass and Monty Weber on drums. At the festival, in which the group took second prize, McGregor came into contact with a wider group of musicians such as Dennis Mpali, the legendary altoist Kippie "Morolong" Moeketsi, Churchill Jolobe and the various artists then organised under the banner of the Union of South African Artists, which had put on the famous "jazz opera" '' King Kong''. These contacts led in the following year to the formation first of the Blue Notes and, secondly, of a big band called the Castle Lager Big Band. The Blue Notes at this stage consisted of Mongezi Velelo (and later Sammy Maritz) on bass, Early Mabuza on drums, Dudu Pukwana on alto and Nikele Moyake on tenor. The great young trumpet player Mongezi Feza joined the group soon after. Johnny Dyani replaced Sammy Maritz on bass and Louis Moholo replaced Early Mabuza soon after and the permanent Blue Notes group was complete. The Castle Lager Big Band was formed after the 1963 Moroka-Jabavu Jazz Festival. This 17-piece group made the album ''Jazz: The African Sound'', which had six tracks, two compositions by Abdullah Ibrahim, two by Kippie Moeketsi and two by McGregor, all in arrangements by McGregor. Apart from the arrangements, one of the most striking things about the album was the wonderful playing by Moeketsi on clarinet, instead of his usual alto. In the band were musicians who had yet to make names for themselves but would become internationally known. Most notable perhaps was Barney Rachabane, who would go on to, among other achievements, play with Paul Simon on the Graceland tour. Simon would describe Rachabane as the "most soulful sax player in the world".

Years in exile

McGregor is perhaps best known for his foundation and leadership of The Blue Notes, a South African

sextet A sextet (or hexad) is a formation containing exactly six members. The former term is commonly associated with vocal ensembles (e.g. The King's Singers, Affabre Concinui) or musical instrument groups, but can be applied to any situation where six ...

that included collaborators Dudu Pukwana, Nikele Moyake, Louis Moholo, Johnny Dyani and Mongezi Feza. Equally as notable was McGregor's creation of the Brotherhood of Breath in 1969, which branched out from his work as The Blue Notes. The Brotherhood was a larger group than the Blue Notes, and incorporated leading English improvisors. They made several recordings throughout the 1970s, both studio sessions and live, as well as a final studio session in 1988. McGregor also released three albums of solo piano performances, and continued to be a major force in the music after leaving England to live in the French countryside.Cotterrell, Roger. ‘Chris McGregor: African Roots’ Jazz Forum 46 (Mar 1977), 40-3. He also made a contribution to Nick Drake's '' Bryter Layter'' album by performing a piano solo on the track "Poor Boy".

Death

McGregor died of lung cancer in May 1990, at the age of 53.

Discography

;As leader * ''Jazz: The African Sound'' (New Sound, 1963) * '' Very Urgent'' (Polydor, 1968; Fledg'ling, 2008) with the Chris McGregor Group * '' Up to Earth'' (Fledg'ling, 1969 008 with the Chris McGregor Septet * '' Our Prayer'' (Fledg'ling Records, 1969 008 trio * ''Piano Song Vol. 1'' (Musica Records, 1977) solo piano * ''Piano Song Vol. 2'' (Musica Records, 1977) solo piano * '' In His Good Time'' (Ogun, 1977 979 live; solo piano * ''Thunderbolt'' (Popular African Music, 1986 997 live; with the South African Exiles * ''Sea Breezes'' (Fledg'ling, 1987 012 live; solo piano * ''Grandmothers Teaching'' (ITM, 1988) with Marilyn Mazur and Harry Beckett ;With The Blue Notes * '' Legacy: Live in South Afrika 1964'' (Ogun, 1964 995 * '' Township Bop'' (Proper, 1964 002 * '' Blue Notes for Mongezi'' (Ogun, 1975 976 * '' Blue Notes in Concert Volume 1'' (Ogun, 1977 978 * '' Before the Wind Changes'' (Ogun, 1979 012 * '' Blue Notes for Johnny'' (Ogun, 1987) * '' The Ogun Collection'' (Ogun, 1964–1987 008 compilation ;With Brotherhood of Breath * '' Chris McGregor's Brotherhood of Breath'' (RCA, 1971) * '' Eclipse at Dawn'' (Cuneiform Records, 1971 008 live * ''Brotherhood'' (RCA Victor, 1971) * '' Bremen to Bridgwater'' (Cuneiform Recs, 1971 and 1975 004 live * '' Travelling Somewhere'' (Cuneiform Recs, 1973 001 live * '' Live at Willisau'' (Ogun, 1973 974 live * '' Procession'' (Ogun, 1977 978 live * ''Yes Please'' (In and Out, 1981) live * ''Country Cooking'' (Virgin, 1988) * ''En Concert a Banlieues Bleues'' (52e Rue Est, 1989) live * ''In Memoriam'' (Vital Music, 1994) live; also released as ''The Memorial Concert'' (ITM, 1994) ;With Harry Miller * '' Different Times, Different Places'' (Ogun, 1973–1976 013

References

External links

Chris McGregor Jazz Collection
containing articles and photographs at the Cory Library for Historical Research
The Cape Jazz Collection (sheetmusic)
* Colin Miller
"What is Cape Jazz?"
* Francesco Martinelli
Artist biography
at All Music. {{DEFAULTSORT:McGregor, Chris 1936 births 1990 deaths African jazz (genre) pianists South African jazz pianists South African jazz bandleaders The Blue Notes members Cuneiform Records artists Avant-garde jazz pianists Musicians from Cape Town People from Somerset West 20th-century pianists 20th-century South African jazz composers Ogun Records Artists