Louis Moholo

Louis Moholo
Background information
Birth name	Louis Tebogo Moholo
Born	(1940-03-10) 10 March 1940
Origin	Cape Town, South Africa
Genres	Jazz
Occupation(s)	Musician
Instruments	Drums
Associated acts	Derek Bailey, Alexander Hawkins, Steve Lacy, Evan Parker, Enrico Rava, Roswell Rudd, Irène Schweizer, Cecil Taylor

Louis Tebogo Moholo (born 10 March 1940), is a South African jazz drummer. He has been a member of several notable bands, including The Blue Notes, the Brotherhood of Breath and Assagai.

Biography

Born in Cape Town, Moholo formed The Blue Notes with Chris McGregor, Johnny Dyani, Nikele Moyake, Mongezi Feza and Dudu Pukwana,^[1] and emigrated to Europe with them in 1964, eventually settling in London, where he formed part of a South African exile community that made an important contribution to British jazz. He was a member of the Brotherhood of Breath, a big band comprising several South African exiles and leading musicians of the British free jazz scene in the 1970s and is the founder of Viva la Black and The Dedication Orchestra. His first album under his own name, Spirits Rejoice on Ogun Records, is considered a classic example of the combination of British and South African players. In the early 1970s, Moholo was also a member of the afro-rock band Assagai.

He has played with many musicians, including Derek Bailey, Steve Lacy, Evan Parker, Enrico Rava, Roswell Rudd, Irène Schweizer, Cecil Taylor, John Tchicai, Archie Shepp, Peter Brötzmann, Mike Osborne, Keith Tippett, Elton Dean and Harry Miller.

Moholo returned to South Africa in September 2005, performing with George Lewis at the UNYAZI Festival of Electronic Music in Johannesburg. He now goes under the name Louis Moholo-Moholo because the name is more ethnically authentic. South African promoter Slow Life in March 2017 at the Olympia Bakery in Kalk Bay, Cape Town produced a show where Louis performed along with Mark Fransman, Reza Khota, Keenan Ahrends and Brydon Bolton.

References

• Philippe Carles, André Clergeat, and Jean-Louis Comolli, Dictionnaire du Jazz, Paris, 1994.

Louis Moholo Moholo Quintet (2011) with Paul Dunmall (saxophone), Alan Tomlinson (trombone), Alexander Hawkins (piano) and Olie Brice (bass)

Discography

External links

• When free jazz means freedom by Gary May, originally published in French in 2005 in the magazine ImproJazz. This site also includes a 2010 interview with Moholo-Moholo by Olivier Ledure, also originally published in ImproJazz.
• FMP releases