Johnny Dyani
Encyclopedia
Johnny Mbizo Dyani was a South Africa
n jazz
double bass
ist and pianist
, who played with such musicians as Don Cherry
, Steve Lacy
, David Murray
and Leo Smith
.
He was born and grew up in Duncan Village, a township of the South African city of East London.
In the early 1960s, Dyanni was a member of South Africa's first integrated jazz band, The Blue Notes
, with Mongezi Feza
on trumpet
, Dudu Pukwana
on alto saxophone
, Nikele Moyake
on tenor saxophone
, Chris McGregor
on piano
, and Louis Moholo
on drums
. In 1964, the band fled South Africa to seek musical and political freedom. Drummer Louis Moholo explained, "We were rebels and we were trying to run away from this apartheid thing. We rebelled against the apartheid regime that whites and blacks couldn't play together. We stood up."
In 1966, Dyani toured Argentina with Steve Lacy
's quartet. Lacy, Dyani and Moholo recorded The Forest and the Zoo.
He later moved to Denmark and Sweden, recording many albums under his own name. He recorded with Dollar Brand (Abdullah Ibrahim), Don Cherry, Steve Lacy, David Murray
, Joseph Jarman
, Clifford Jarvis
, Don Moye
, Han Bennink
, Brotherhood of Breath
, Mal Waldron
, Pierre Dørge
and many others.
After his death, the remaining members of The Blue Notes reunited to record a moving tribute album, entitled Blue Notes For Johnny. Other musical tributes include:
In a memorial (PDF) published in the South African magazine Rixaka, Pallo Jordan wrote, "above all, his music resounded with a joy in life."
South Africa
The Republic of South Africa is a country in southern Africa. Located at the southern tip of Africa, it is divided into nine provinces, with of coastline on the Atlantic and Indian oceans...
n jazz
Jazz
Jazz is a musical style that originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States. It was born out of a mix of African and European music traditions. From its early development until the present, jazz has incorporated music from 19th and 20th...
double bass
Double bass
The double bass, also called the string bass, upright bass, standup bass or contrabass, is the largest and lowest-pitched bowed string instrument in the modern symphony orchestra, with strings usually tuned to E1, A1, D2 and G2...
ist and pianist
Pianist
A pianist is a musician who plays the piano. A professional pianist can perform solo pieces, play with an ensemble or orchestra, or accompany one or more singers, solo instrumentalists, or other performers.-Choice of genres:...
, who played with such musicians as Don Cherry
Don Cherry (jazz)
Donald Eugene Cherry was an innovative African-American jazz cornetist whose career began with a long association with saxophonist Ornette Coleman. He went on to live in many parts of the world and work with a wide variety of musicians.-Biography:Cherry was born in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, and...
, Steve Lacy
Steve Lacy
Steve Lacy , born Steven Norman Lackritz in New York City, was a jazz saxophonist and composer recognized as one of the important players of soprano saxophone....
, David Murray
David Murray (jazz musician)
David Murray is an American jazz musician. Murray plays mainly tenor saxophone and sometimes bass clarinet. He has recorded prolifically for many record labels since the mid-1970s.-Biography:...
and Leo Smith
Wadada Leo Smith
Ishmael Wadada Leo Smith is a trumpeter and composer working primarily in the fields of avant-garde jazz and free improvisation.-Biography:...
.
He was born and grew up in Duncan Village, a township of the South African city of East London.
In the early 1960s, Dyanni was a member of South Africa's first integrated jazz band, The Blue Notes
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 on drums...
, with Mongezi Feza
Mongezi Feza
Mongezi Feza was a South African jazz trumpet player and flautist.-Biography:Feza was born in Queenstown, South Africa in 1945. A member of The Blue Notes, he left South Africa in 1964 and settled in Europe, living in London and Copenhagen. As a trumpeter, his influences included hard bopper...
on trumpet
Trumpet
The trumpet is the musical instrument with the highest register in the brass family. Trumpets are among the oldest musical instruments, dating back to at least 1500 BCE. They are played by blowing air through closed lips, producing a "buzzing" sound which starts a standing wave vibration in the air...
, Dudu Pukwana
Dudu Pukwana
Mtutuzel Dudu Pukwana was a South African saxophonist, composer and pianist .-Early years in South Africa:...
on alto saxophone
Alto saxophone
The alto saxophone is a member of the saxophone family of woodwind instruments invented by Belgian instrument designer Adolphe Sax in 1841. It is smaller than the tenor but larger than the soprano, and is the type most used in classical compositions...
, Nikele Moyake
Nikele Moyake
Nikele Moyake was a jazz musician from South Africa, who played tenor saxophone in the sextet The Blue Notes alongside Chris McGregor, Dudu Pukwana, Mongezi Feza, Johnny Dyani and Louis Moholo. He was born in the early 1930s, making him by far the oldest member of the band, but he was also the...
on tenor saxophone
Tenor saxophone
The tenor saxophone is a medium-sized member of the saxophone family, a group of instruments invented by Adolphe Sax in the 1840s. The tenor, with the alto, are the two most common types of saxophones. The tenor is pitched in the key of B, and written as a transposing instrument in the treble...
, Chris McGregor
Chris McGregor
Christopher McGregor , was a South African jazz pianist, bandleader and composer born in Somerset West, South Africa.- Early influences :...
on piano
Piano
The piano is a musical instrument played by means of a keyboard. It is one of the most popular instruments in the world. Widely used in classical and jazz music for solo performances, ensemble use, chamber music and accompaniment, the piano is also very popular as an aid to composing and rehearsal...
, and Louis Moholo
Louis Moholo
Louis Tebugo Moholo , is a South African jazz drummer.He formed The Blue Notes with Chris McGregor, Johnny Dyani, Nikele Moyake, Mongezi Feza and Dudu Pukwana, and emigrated to Europe with them in 1964, eventually settling in London, where he formed part of a South African exile community that made...
on drums
Drum kit
A drum kit is a collection of drums, cymbals and often other percussion instruments, such as cowbells, wood blocks, triangles, chimes, or tambourines, arranged for convenient playing by a single person ....
. In 1964, the band fled South Africa to seek musical and political freedom. Drummer Louis Moholo explained, "We were rebels and we were trying to run away from this apartheid thing. We rebelled against the apartheid regime that whites and blacks couldn't play together. We stood up."
In 1966, Dyani toured Argentina with Steve Lacy
Steve Lacy
Steve Lacy , born Steven Norman Lackritz in New York City, was a jazz saxophonist and composer recognized as one of the important players of soprano saxophone....
's quartet. Lacy, Dyani and Moholo recorded The Forest and the Zoo.
He later moved to Denmark and Sweden, recording many albums under his own name. He recorded with Dollar Brand (Abdullah Ibrahim), Don Cherry, Steve Lacy, David Murray
David Murray (jazz musician)
David Murray is an American jazz musician. Murray plays mainly tenor saxophone and sometimes bass clarinet. He has recorded prolifically for many record labels since the mid-1970s.-Biography:...
, Joseph Jarman
Joseph Jarman
Joseph Jarman , is a jazz musician, composer and Shinshu Buddhist priest. He is perhaps best known as one of the first members of the Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians and the Art Ensemble of Chicago.-Early life:Jarman grew up in Chicago, Illinois...
, Clifford Jarvis
Clifford Jarvis
Clifford Jarvis was an American hard bop and free jazz drummer.After studying at Berklee in the 1950s he established himself in jazz between 1959 and 1966 by recording with Chet Baker, Randy Weston, Yusef Lateef, Freddie Hubbard, Barry Harris, Jackie McLean, and Elmo Hope, and playing with Grant...
, Don Moye
Don Moye
Famoudou Don Moye, is an American jazz percussionist and drummer. He is most known for his involvement with the Art Ensemble of Chicago and is noted for his mastery of African and Caribbean percussion instruments and rhythmic techniques.- Early life and Detroit Free Jazz :Moye was born in...
, Han Bennink
Han Bennink
Han Bennink is a Dutch jazz drummer and percussionist. On occasion his recordings have featured his playing on clarinet, violin, banjo and piano....
, Brotherhood of Breath
Brotherhood of Breath
The Brotherhood of Breath was a big-band created in the late 1960s by South African pianist/composer Chris McGregor , essentially an extension of McGregor's previous band The Blue Notes....
, Mal Waldron
Mal Waldron
Malcolm Earl Waldron was an American jazz and world music pianist and composer, born in New York City.Like his contemporaries, Waldron's roots lie chiefly in the hard bop and post-bop genres of the New York club scene of the 1950s; but with time, he gravitated more towards free jazz and composition...
, Pierre Dørge
Pierre Dørge
Pierre Dørge is a Danish avant-garde jazz guitarist, bandleader and composer born in Copenhagen, Denmark. As leader of New Jungle Orchestra he created a unique and playful combination of traditional and modern jazz with Highlife west-African guitar music.Among his collaborators have been his...
and many others.
After his death, the remaining members of The Blue Notes reunited to record a moving tribute album, entitled Blue Notes For Johnny. Other musical tributes include:
- Pierre Dørge & New Jungle Orchestra's album Johnny Lives (1987)
- David Murray's composition "Mbizo", which was first recorded on the Clarinet Summit's Southern Bells (1987) and the duo album The HealersThe Healers (album)The Healers is the thirteenth album by David Murray to be released on the Italian Black Saint label. It was released in 1987 and features duo performances by Murray and Randy Weston.-Reception:...
with Randy WestonRandy WestonRandy Weston , is an American jazz pianist and composer, of Jamaican parentage.-Biography:Weston studied classical piano as a child. After serving in the U.S. Army during World War II, he ran a restaurant that was frequented by many of the leading bebop musicians...
(1987) - The World Saxophone QuartetWorld Saxophone QuartetThe World Saxophone Quartet is a jazz ensemble founded in 1977, implementing elements of free funk and African jazz into their musical routines.-History:...
's record M'BizoM'BizoM'Bizo is the sixteenth album by the jazz group the World Saxophone Quartet and their fourth on the Canadian Justin Time label. The album features performances by Hamiet Bluiett, John Purcell, Oliver Lake and David Murray, with guests Ronnie Burrage, Mario Canonge, D.D...
(1997) - Chris McGregor's Mbizo's Baby (1977)
In a memorial (PDF) published in the South African magazine Rixaka, Pallo Jordan wrote, "above all, his music resounded with a joy in life."
Partial discography
- 1964: The Blue Notes Legacy – Live In South Afrika 1964 [released in 1995] (Ogun)
- 1967: Steve LacySteve LacySteve Lacy , born Steven Norman Lackritz in New York City, was a jazz saxophonist and composer recognized as one of the important players of soprano saxophone....
– The Forest And The ZooThe Forest And The ZooThe Forest and the Zoo is the first live album by Steve Lacy and was released on the ESP label in 1967. It features a concert performance recorded in Buenos Aires, Argentina by Lacy, Enrico Rava, Johnny Dyani and Louis Moholo.-Reception:...
(ESP–Disk) - 1978: Johnny Dyani with John TchicaiJohn TchicaiJohn Martin Tchicai is a Danish jazz saxophonist. He was one of the earliest European free jazz musicians. He is of Danish and Congolese descent....
& Dudu PukwanaDudu PukwanaMtutuzel Dudu Pukwana was a South African saxophonist, composer and pianist .-Early years in South Africa:...
– Witchdoctor's Son (SteepleChase) - 1978: Johnny Dyani Quartet – Song For Biko (SteepleChase)
- 1978: Johnny Dyani & David Murray – Let The Music Take You (Marge 04)
- 1981: Johnny Dyani & Mal Waldron duo Live at Jazz Unité – Some Jive Ass Boer (Jazz Unité 102)
- 1984: Pierre Dørge & New Jungle Orchestra – Brikama (SteepleChase)
- 1984: Various Artists – Percussion Summit [released in 1995] (Black Records)
- 1985: Pierre Dørge & New Jungle Orchestra – Even The Moon Is Dancing (SteepleChase)
- 1986: Johnny Dyani Quartet – Angolian Cry (SteepleChase 31209)
- 1987: Johnny Dyani – Witchdoctor's Son - Together (Cadillac Music & Publishing)