The Dedication Orchestra
Encyclopedia
The Dedication Orchestra is a jazz
ensemble formed as a tribute to the exiled South African musicians who formed the core of the The Blue Notes
and the Brotherhood of Breath
, it features Alan Skidmore
, Radu Malfatti
, Django Bates
, Kenny Wheeler
, Elton Dean
, Lol Coxhill
, Evan Parker
, Paul Rutherford
and many others, including Keith Tippett
on piano, Louis Moholo
on drums and with Julie Tippetts
and Maggie Nichols
on vocals.
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...
ensemble formed as a tribute to the exiled South African musicians who formed the core of the 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...
and the 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....
, it features Alan Skidmore
Alan Skidmore
Alan Skidmore is a tenor saxophonist of jazz and blues music, son of the saxophonist Jimmy Skidmore.-As a sideman:...
, Radu Malfatti
Radu Malfatti
Radu Malfatti is an Austrian trombone player and composer. He was born in Innsbruck, in the province of Tyrol, on December 16, 1943. He has been described as "among the leaders in redefining the avant-garde as truly on-the-edge art." His work "since the early nineties.....
, Django Bates
Django Bates
Django Bates , is a composer, multi-instrumentalist and band leader. He plays the piano, keyboards and the tenor horn. He currently lives in Copenhagen where he is a professor at the Rhythmic Music Conservatory and leader of the StoRMChaser orchestra.-Career:Django Bates was born in Beckenham,...
, Kenny Wheeler
Kenny Wheeler
Kenneth Vincent John Wheeler, OC is a Canadian composer and trumpet and flugelhorn player, based in the U.K. since the 1950s....
, Elton Dean
Elton Dean
Elton Dean was an English jazz musician who performed on alto saxophone, saxello and occasionally keyboard....
, Lol Coxhill
Lol Coxhill
Lowen Coxhill, generally known as Lol Coxhill is a free improvising saxophonist and raconteur...
, Evan Parker
Evan Parker
Evan Shaw Parker is a British free-improvising saxophone player from the European free jazz scene.Recording and performing prolifically with many collaborators, Parker was a pivotal figure in the development of European free jazz and free improvisation, and has pioneered or substantially expanded...
, Paul Rutherford
Paul Rutherford
Paul Rutherford is the former backing vocalist, dancer and occasional keyboardist with 1980s pop band Frankie Goes to Hollywood , one of the group's two openly gay singers....
and many others, including Keith Tippett
Keith Tippett
Keith Tippett is a British jazz pianist and composer.Tippett, the son of a local police officer, went to Greenway Boys Secondary Modern school in Southmead, Bristol. He formed his first jazz band called The KT7 whilst still at school and they performed numbers popular at the time by The Temperance...
on piano, 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 and with Julie Tippetts
Julie Driscoll
Julie Tippetts is an English singer and actress, known for her 1960s versions of Bob Dylan's "This Wheel's on Fire", and Donovan's "Season of the Witch", both with Brian Auger & The Trinity...
and Maggie Nichols
Maggie Nicols
Maggie Nicols , is a Scottish free-jazz and improvising vocalist, dancer, and performer.-Early life and career:...
on vocals.
Discography
- Spirits Rejoice (1992, Ogun RecordsOgun RecordsOgun Records is a record label created by the husband and wife team of Hazel Miller and Harry Miller, to document the music being created by a group of open-minded musicians in London in the early 1970s....
, recorded at Gateway Studios, January 2 and 3, 1992) - Ixesha (Time) (1994, Ogun Records)