''For the Blue Notes'' is a live album by the

Louis Moholo-Moholo Louis Tebogo Moholo (10 March 1940 – 13 June 2025) was a South African jazz drummer. He was a member of several notable bands, including The Blue Notes, the Brotherhood of Breath and Assagai. Biography Born in Cape Town, Moholo formed The Bl ...

Unit, led by drummer Moholo-Moholo, and featuring saxophonists Ntshuks Bonga and Jason Yarde, trumpeter Henry Lowther, trombonist Alan Tomlinson, vocalist Francine Luce, pianist

Alexander Hawkins Alexander Hawkins (born 3 May 1981) is a British jazz pianist and composer. Three of the main groups he has led or co-led are the Alexander Hawkins Ensemble; the Convergence Quartet (with Taylor Ho Bynum, Harris Eisenstadt, and Dominic Lash); ...

, and double bassist John Edwards. It was recorded on March 4, 2012, at Theatre Manzoni in Milan, Italy, and was released in 2014 by

Ogun Records Ogun Records is a jazz record label created in London in 1973 by South African expatriate bassist Harry Miller, his wife Hazel Miller, and sound engineer Keith Beal. They recorded British avant-garde jazz musicians Keith Tippett, Mike Osbo ...

. The album pays tribute to

The Blue Notes The Blue Notes were a South African jazz sextet, whose definitive line-up featured Chris McGregor on piano, Mongezi Feza on trumpet, Dudu Pukwana on alto saxophone, Nikele Moyake on tenor saxophone, Johnny Dyani on bass, and Louis Moholo-Mo ...

, the South African jazz ensemble of which Moholo-Moholo is the only surviving member.

Reception

In a review for ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...

'', John Fordham called the album a "fiery jazz tribute" and a "raucous, rousing set" that "fizzes with powerful themes." He commented: "Wild but still songlike collective thrashes swell out of catchy hooks...; the street-brass sound of the old Brotherhood of Breath big band is echoed in struts like 'Irmite is Right'; the sonorous chant 'Dikelelu' has a rumbling, Coltranesque undertow; and bassist John Edwards' crunching basswalk under Hawkins' zig-zagging piano solo on 'Sonke' is awesome. Kevin Le Gendre of ''

Jazzwise ''Jazzwise'' is a British monthly magazine focused on jazz, launched in 1997. The magazine covers a range of jazz sub-genres and provides news coverage, a national gig guide, a jazz-on-film page, feature articles, and a review section that evalua ...

'' noted that many of the songs on the album "are steeped in the kind of pathos that would melt the hardest of hearts yet crucially they steer clear of any facile sentimentality." He praised the ensemble work, remarking: "this is very much a unified, cohesive group, that, much like a Mingus band or a version of the Messengers, creates a very sophisticated orchestral groove." ''JazzWords Ken Waxman wrote: "It's bassist John Edwards' solid time-keeping and pianist Alexander Hawkins' kinetic chording that drive the undertaking as much as the keening solos from saxophonist Jason Yarde and Ntshuks Bonga. Closer to the American rather than the Canadian concept here, the ancestral background of the players hardly influences the notable sounds issuing from their instruments." Writing for ''

The Quietus ''The Quietus'' is a British online music and pop culture magazine founded by John Doran and Luke Turner. The site is an editorially independent publication led by Doran with a group of freelance journalists and critics. Content ''The Quietu ...

'', Sean Kitching stated: "Although Moholo-Moholo has worked with a number of uniquely talented piano players... there's something really magical about the reciprocity that occurs when he plays with Alexander Hawkins. The way they lock into each other's playing, Hawkins delivering fast, almost percussive keyboard runs describing the melodic line of the tune emerging from the near chaos of group interplay, his attention perfectly attuned to Moholo-Moholo's mesmerisingly fluid drumming, is truly something special." Writer Richard Williams included the album in his list of the top releases of 2014.

Track listing

# "Lost Opportunities" ( Harry Miller) – 6:51 # "For the Blue Notes" (Louis Moholo-Moholo) – 5:32 # "Ismite is Might" (

Chris McGregor Christopher McGregor (24 December 1936 – 26 May 1990) was a South African jazz pianist, bandleader and composer born in Somerset West, South Africa. Early influences McGregor grew up in the then Transkei (now part of the Eastern Cape Prov ...

) – 7:17 # "Creole" (Francine Luce) – 4:52 # "Dikeledi" (Pule Pheto) – 6:44 # "Thank U" (Jason Yarde) – 6:27 # "B My Dear" (

Dudu Pukwana Mthutuzeli Dudu Pukwana (18 July 1938 – 30 June 1990) was a South African saxophonist and composer. Early years in South Africa Dudu Pukwana was born in Walmer, Port Elizabeth, Walmer Township, Port Elizabeth, South Africa. He grew up studyin ...

) – 8:36 # "Sonke" (Pule Pheto) – 8:11 # "Zanele" (Pule Pheto) – 7:34 # "You Ain't Gonna Know Me 'cos You Think You Know Me" (

Mongezi Feza Mongezi Feza (11 May 1945 – 14 December 1975) was a South African jazz trumpeter and flautist. Biography Feza was born in Queenstown, Cape Province, Union of South Africa, into a family of musicians, His elder brother, Sandi Feza, who ...

) – 1:38 # "Ithi Gui" (

Johnny Dyani Johnny Mbizo Dyani (30 November 1945 – 24 October 1986) was a South African jazz double bassist, vocalist and pianist, who, in addition to being a key member of The Blue Notes, played with such international musicians as Don Cherry, Steve L ...

) – 2:21 # "The Tag" (Jason Yarde) – 3:59

Personnel

– drums * Ntshuks Bonga – soprano saxophone, alto saxophone * Jason Yarde – soprano saxophone, alto saxophone * Henry Lowther – trumpet * Alan Tomlinson – trombone * Francine Luce – voice *

– piano * John Edwards – double bass

References

{{Authority control 2014 live albums Louis Moholo live albums Ogun Records live albums