Assagai was an
Afro-rock Afro rock is a style of rock music with West African influences. Afro rock bands and artists in the late 1960s and early 1970s included Osibisa, Assagai and Lafayette Afro Rock Band.
Style
The style relies on the use of rock string instruments ...
band, active in the early 1970s in
London
London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...
, whose relatively short career produced two albums recorded in 1971. It has been described as "the second best-known African group of the late 60s/early 70s in Britain" after
Osibisa
Osibisa are a Ghanaian-British Afro-Rock band founded in London in the late 1960s by four expatriate West African and three London based Caribbean musicians.
Osibisa were the most successful and longest lived of the African-heritage bands in ...
.
History
The original band consisted of five members, three from
South Africa
South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countri ...
and two from
Nigeria
Nigeria ( ), , ig, Naìjíríyà, yo, Nàìjíríà, pcm, Naijá , ff, Naajeeriya, kcg, Naijeriya officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a country in West Africa. It is situated between the Sahel to the north and the Gulf o ...
: drummer
Louis Moholo
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 ...
, trumpeter/flautist
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 ...
, alto saxophonist
Dudu Pukwana
Mthutuzeli Dudu Pukwana (18 July 1938 – 30 June 1990) was a South African saxophonist, composer and pianist (although not known for his piano playing).
Early years in South Africa
Dudu Pukwana was born in Walmer Township, Port Elizabeth, S ...
, tenor saxophonist Bizo Mngqikana, and guitarist/bassist Fred Coker — the latter, according to Rob Fitzpatrick in ''
The Guardian
''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...
'', "helped guide Assagai into position as the only real West African competition to the super-star firepower of Ghana's Osibisa" before Coker left Assagai to replace Spartacus R in Osibisa.
Canterbury scene
The Canterbury scene (or Canterbury sound) was a musical scene centred on the town of Canterbury, Kent, England during the late 1960s and early 1970s. Associated with progressive rock, the term describes a loosely-defined, improvisational styl ...
keyboardist
Alan Gowen
Alan Gowen (19 August 1947 – 17 May 1981) was an English fusion/progressive rock keyboardist, best known for his work in Gilgamesh and National Health.
History
Gowen was born in North Hampstead, northwest London. He joined Assagai in 1971 ...
and
King Crimson
King Crimson are a progressive rock band formed in 1968 in London, England. The band draws inspiration from a wide variety of music, incorporating elements of classical, jazz, folk, heavy metal, gamelan, industrial, electronic, experime ...
percussionist
Jamie Muir
Jamie Muir (born 1943 in Edinburgh) is a Scottish painter and former musician, best known for his work as the percussionist in King Crimson from 1972–1973.
Biography
Muir attended the Edinburgh College of Art during the 1960s, and began playi ...
were also briefly members (1971-72).
"Alan Gowen"
NNDB.
The band recorded for the British label Vertigo Records
Vertigo Records is a record company with United Kingdom origins. It was a subsidiary of the Philips/Phonogram record label, launched in 1969 to specialise in progressive rock and other non-mainstream musical styles. Today, it is operated by Uni ...
, and are thought to be "the only African or 'Black' band ever signed" by the label.["Assagai"]
radagast.org.
Assagai's self-titled debut album was released in 1971; among the African musicians who played with the group on the recording was Terri Quaye
Terri Quaye, also Theresa (born 8 November 1940, Bodmin, England),Val Wilmer"Quaye, Terri (born 1940), singer, pianist, percussionist" The New Grove, Grove Music Online - ''The New Grove Dictionary of Jazz'', 2nd edition. Published in print Janu ...
.[Lloyd Bradley]
''Sounds Like London: 100 Years of Black Music in the Capital''
Serpent's Tail, 2012, p. 155. ''Assagai'' was reissued on CD by Repertoire Records
Repertoire Records is a German record label from Hamburg, Germany, specialising in reissues of classic pop and rock albums originally issued in the 1960s and 1970s. The chairman is Thomas Neelsen.
See also
* List of record labels
File:Alvino ...
in 1994. The band's second and final album, ''Zimbabwe'' (with cover artwork by Roger Dean), was released later in 1971. It was re-released as LP by Music for Pleasure label, but under a different title, ''AfroRock''. Both Assagai albums featured songs written by members of the British group Jade Warrior and included guest appearances from them as well.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-Moho ...
alongside 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 Provin ...
.
Discography
Albums
* ''Assagai'', Vertigo Records, 1971 (LP #6360 030); Repertoire Records, 1994 (CD #REP 4448-WP)
* ''Zimbabwe'', Vertigo, 1971 (LP #6360 058); re-released as ''AfroRock'', Music for Pleasure, 1975 (SPR 90054)
References
External links
*
Assagai at DiscogsRadagast.org
{{Authority control
South African rock music groups
Vertigo Records artists