Mongezi Feza (11 May 1945 – 14 December 1975) was a South African

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a m ...

trumpet The trumpet is a brass instrument commonly used in classical and jazz ensembles. The trumpet group ranges from the piccolo trumpet—with the highest register in the brass family—to the bass trumpet, pitched one octave below the standard ...

er and

flautist The flute is a family of classical music instrument in the woodwind group. Like all woodwinds, flutes are aerophones, meaning they make sound by vibrating a column of air. However, unlike woodwind instruments with reeds, a flute is a reedless ...

Biography

Feza was born in Queenstown,

Cape Province The Province of the Cape of Good Hope ( af, Provinsie Kaap die Goeie Hoop), commonly referred to as the Cape Province ( af, Kaapprovinsie) and colloquially as The Cape ( af, Die Kaap), was a province in the Union of South Africa and subsequen ...

Union of South Africa The Union of South Africa ( nl, Unie van Zuid-Afrika; af, Unie van Suid-Afrika; ) was the historical predecessor to the present-day Republic of South Africa. It came into existence on 31 May 1910 with the unification of the Cape, Natal, Tran ...

, into a family of musicians, His elder brother, Sandi Feza, who taught him how to play the trumpet in the dusty streets of Mlungisi township in Queenstown. A member of

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 ...

, Feza left South Africa in 1964 and settled in Europe, living in

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, 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 dow ...

and

Copenhagen Copenhagen ( or .; da, København ) is the capital and most populous city of Denmark, with a proper population of around 815.000 in the last quarter of 2022; and some 1.370,000 in the urban area; and the wider Copenhagen metropolitan ar ...

. As a trumpeter, his influences included

hard bop Hard bop is a subgenre of jazz that is an extension of bebop (or "bop") music. Journalists and record companies began using the term in the mid-1950s to describe a new current within jazz that incorporated influences from rhythm and blues, gospe ...

per Clifford Brown and free

pioneer

Don Cherry Donald Stewart Cherry (born February 5, 1934) is a Canadian former ice hockey player, coach, and television commentator. Cherry played one game in the National Hockey League (NHL) with the Boston Bruins, and later coached the team for five se ...

. After The Blue Notes splintered in the late 1960s, he played with British

rock Rock most often refers to: * Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids * Rock music, a genre of popular music Rock or Rocks may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wales ...

musician Robert Wyatt,

progressive rock Progressive rock (shortened as prog rock or simply prog; sometimes conflated with art rock) is a broad genre of rock music that developed in the United Kingdom and United States through the mid- to late 1960s, peaking in the early 1970s. In ...

band

Henry Cow Henry Cow were an English experimental rock group, founded at the University of Cambridge in 1968 by multi-instrumentalists Fred Frith and Tim Hodgkinson. Henry Cow's personnel fluctuated over their decade together, but drummer Chris Cutler, b ...

, and most extensively with fellow ex-Blue Notes musicians

Johnny Dyani Johnny Mbizo Dyani (30 November 1945 – 24 October 1986) was a South African jazz double bassist, vocalist and pianist, who, in addition to being a key member of The Blue Notes, played with such international musicians as Don Cherry, Steve L ...

, Chris McGregor and

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, ...

. Feza's compositions "Sonia" and "You Ain't Gonna Know Me ('Cos You Think You Know Me)" remained in the repertoire of his colleagues long after his death. In the early 1970s, Feza was also member of the

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

Assagai Assagai was an Afro-rock band, active in the early 1970s in London, 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 Osi ...

. Feza died in London, in December 1975, from untreated

pneumonia Pneumonia is an inflammatory condition of the lung primarily affecting the small air sacs known as alveoli. Symptoms typically include some combination of productive or dry cough, chest pain, fever, and difficulty breathing. The severi ...

Discography

Album appearances

*''Very Urgent'' (Chris McGregor's

) (1968) *''Up to Earth'' (Chris McGregor Septet) (1969) *'' Brotherhood of Breath'' ( Chris McGregor) (1970) *''Assagai'' (

) (1971) *''Free Jam'' (with the Bernt Rosengren Quartet),

Ayler Records Ayler is a surname. Notable people with the surname include: * Albert Ayler (1936–1970), American jazz saxophonist, singer, and composer * Donald Ayler (1942–2007), American jazz trumpeter, brother of Albert * Ethel Ayler (1930–2018), Americ ...

(1972) *''Music For Xaba Vol 1 and Vol 2'' (with

and

Okay Temiz Okay Temiz (born 11 February 1939, Istanbul, Turkey) is a Turkish fusion jazz percussionist and drummer. Biography Temiz was influenced in his early years by his mother, Naciye, who was classically schooled in music. Temiz started playing profe ...

) (1972)

Sonet Records Sonet Records was a jazz, pop and rock record label operating as an imprint of Universal Music Sweden. It was founded in Sweden in 1956. Sonet Records was established by Sven Lindholm and Gunnar Bergström, who managed the label into the 1980s ...

SNTF 642 and SNTF 824 *''Rejoice'' (with Johnny Dyani and Okay Temiz) (1972) re-issued by

Cadillac Records ''Cadillac Records'' is a 2008 American biographical drama film written and directed by Darnell Martin. The film explores the musical era from the early 1940s to the late 1960s, chronicling the life of the influential Chicago-based record-compan ...

SGC 1017 (1988) *''

In Praise of Learning ''In Praise of Learning'' is a studio album by British avant-rock group Henry Cow, recorded at Virgin Records' Manor studios in February and March 1975, and released in May 1975. On this album, Henry Cow had expanded to include members of Slapp ...

'' (

), (1975) *'' Theatre Royal Drury Lane 8th September 1974'' ( Robert Wyatt) (1974) *'' Rock Bottom'' ( Robert Wyatt) (1974) *''

Ruth Is Stranger Than Richard ''Ruth Is Stranger Than Richard'' is the third solo album by Robert Wyatt. Background The follow-up to '' Rock Bottom'', for which Wyatt had written all of the music and lyrics, ''Ruth...'' consisted of Wyatt's adaptations and arrangements of o ...

'' ( Robert Wyatt) (1975) *''

Pressure Drop Pressure drop is defined as the difference in total pressure between two points of a fluid carrying network. A pressure drop occurs when frictional forces, caused by the resistance to flow, act on a fluid as it flows through the tube. The main de ...

'' ( Robert Palmer) (1975)

with Harry Miller's Isipingo

*''Which Way Now'',

Cuneiform Records Cuneiform Records is a record label in Silver Spring, Maryland. Founded in 1984, the label releases an mixture of musical styles, all with a Rock in Opposition aesthetic, including progressive jazz, jazz fusion, the Canterbury scene, and elec ...

(1975)

with Dudu Pukwana

*''In The Townships'' (

& Spear),

Virgin Records Virgin Records is a record label owned by Universal Music Group. It originally founded as a British independent record label in 1972 by entrepreneurs Richard Branson, Simon Draper, Nik Powell, and musician Tom Newman (musician), Tom Newman. It ...

C 1504 (1973) (album dedicated to the memory of Mongezi Feza) *''Flute Music'' (Dudu Pukwana & Spear),

Caroline Records Caroline Records is a record label originally founded in 1973. Initially founded in the United Kingdom to showcase British progressive rock groups, the label ceased releasing titles in 1976, and then re-emerged in the United States in 1986. ...

(UK) CA 2005, Virgin Records CA 2005 (1975) *''Diamond Express'' (Dudu Pukwana),

Freedom Records Freedom Records was a jazz record label headed by Shel Safran and founded by Alan Bates as a division of Black Lion Records. Individual recordings were distributed via Polydor Records and Transatlantic Records during the early 1970s before the ...

FLP 41041 (1977)

Underground recordings

*1965 The Blue Notes featuring vocalist Patrice Gcwabe *1967 The Blue Notes featuring vocalist Tunji Oyelana *1968 Unissued LP (Bootleg) of Brotherhood of Breath.

Bibliography

Philippe Carles, André Clergeat, and Jean-Louis Comolli, ''Dictionnaire du jazz'', Paris, 1994

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Feza, Mongezi 1945 births 1975 deaths 20th-century trumpeters Assagai members Brotherhood of Breath members Centipede (band) members Deaths from pneumonia in England South African expatriates in Denmark South African expatriates in England South African jazz trumpeters South African jazz flautists The Blue Notes members 20th-century flautists