HAD he lived — he died in 1990 — jazzman Chris McGregor would be in his 80s now. But, like jazz veterans across the globe, he would probably still be surprising audiences with harmonic innovation. Health permitting, jazz isn’t a calling in which years mean much.
McGregor was born on December 24 1936 in Somerset West. And next Tuesday, October 8, at 6pm, the Amandla Forum in Cape Town hosts the Western Cape’s regional launch for the most comprehensive book about his life and work so far.
Written by his widow, Maxine McGregor, Chris McGregor and the Brotherhood of Breath is published by Rhodes University Press. The launch takes place at the District Six Museum, 25 Buitenkant Street, while the Mahogany Room Jazz Club hosts a subsequent concert in tribute to both McGregor and Sathima Bea Benjamin from 8pm.
What made McGregor’s music remarkable is well summarised by editor Cornelius Thomas in his jacket note: compositions, arrangements and working practice embodied “the social coherence of African sound and culture amid the release and logic of free jazz”. It was the creative tension between these elements that gave McGregor’s sound its thought-provoking character.
Though his full opus has yet to find its rightful place in music curriculi here, McGregor’s legacy survives in many ways.
Some of his works have become standards, such as Mra, his tribute to baritone player and teacher Christopher Columbus Ngcukana.
(In Cape Town, Ngcukana was the pioneer of what he called the “fowl run” of free blowing.) The characteristic Eastern Cape chords inspired by overtone singing — which McGregor heard growing up in Blythswood in the then Transkei — can be heard on today in Andile Yenana’s pianism and trumpeter Lwanda Gogwana’s arrangements. Other composers, such as Marcus Wyatt, are exploring similarly piquant combinations of structured marching beats and joyous dissolves into improvisation.
McGregor did not work alone, and his distinctive sound was also shaped by the intellectual and stylistic visions of his collaborators: equally inspired composers and players such as Louis Moholo, Johnny Dyani and Dudu Pukwana. All of these titans demand equally detailed biographies, and this event makes a valuable start to that project. Launch details are available from 083-886-7164 or andre40marais@gmail.com, or (021) 466-7200 and mandy@districtsix.co.za; bookings for the concert from the Mahogany Room on 076-689-2697.
OTHER kinds of creativity, old and new, are also on view in this week’s live events. On Thursday, the Crypt jazz club at Cape Town’s St George’s Cathedral presents Cape Dutch Connection Revisited.
This unashamed nostalgia-fest of a band has played 11 seasons in Franschhoek, and now brings its revival of 1930s swing jazz to the club from 7pm. The players are reed veteran Willie van Zyl, bassist Wesley Rustin, drummer Jack Momple and pianist Derk Blaisse, with vocalist Danielle de Vries. Details of this and more of the club’s events at www.thecryptjazz.com.
On Saturday, the Wits University jazz and classical music students present a showcase of their work under the title, Motswako: the Mix, at 7.30pm. The event happens in the Music Room, on the 8th floor, University Corner, Jorissen Street in Braamfontein. Details from Catherine.pisanti@wits.ac.za or (011) 717-1376.
On the following day, the third African Creative Economy Conference opens at Cape Town City Hall, running until October 9.
This is the first edition of the event in South Africa. The main organising body, Arterial Network, represents people involved with the cultural industries across the whole continent, and previous events were held in Nairobi and Dakar.
Industry experts and practitioners from East, West and North Africa, as well as the south, will speak and lead discussions, while Dr Marina Guo of the John Howkins Research Centre on the Creative Economy in Shanghai will provide a different developing-country perspective on the creative industries.
An art market, an art exhibition in Langa township and film and music events provide a parallel programme to the main proceedings, including African jazz collaborations at the Mahogany Room jazz club. Details at www.acec2013.org.za or from info@arterialnetwork.org.
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Article source: http://www.bdlive.co.za/life/entertainment/2013/10/02/jazz-remembering-the-remarkable-chris-mcgregor