Johnny Dyani

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Johnny "Mbizo" Dyani (born June 4, 1947 in East London , South Africa , † October 24, 1986 in West Berlin ) was a South African jazz musician ( double bass player , pianist , composer , singer ).

Life

Dyani comes from a musical family who had a piano. He first learned to sing and built himself early from an oil can and a guitar from a tea chest a one-string bass, with whom he appeared on the road and in a children's band Kwelamusik played. He learned to play the drum and trumpet with the scouts and in a church group. His older brother invited him to sing as he did in the vocal groups The Boogie Brothers and The Five Slickers . Professionally, he initially worked as the lead singer of Tete Mbambisa's singing group Junior Four Yanks (Mbambisa lived in the neighborhood; Dyani could play the piano and double bass in his mother's house), which were accompanied by Dudu Pukwana on their first concert tour in 1961 . After the group disbanded in the fall of 1962, Dyani became a member of Eric Nomvede's band, The African Revellers Review , which also included Mongezi Feza . In the fall of 1963 he briefly belonged to the show Back in Your Own Backyard to replace their bassist.

In early 1964 he became the bass player for the "Blue Notes", where he replaced Sammy Maritz; with him, Louis Moholo , Mongezi Feza, Nick Moyake , Dudu Pukwana and Chris McGregor , the ensemble of five black and one white South Africans quickly gained an international reputation. But the apartheid regime did not tolerate this cooperation. A celebrated tour to Europe in 1964 was a key experience and confronted the five South Africans with the decision to go into exile.

A triumphant success of the "Blue Notes" at the jazz festival in Antibes and a longer appearance in the Cafe "Africana" in Zurich were Dyani's first stops in exile. The group went to London , put the English jazz scene in turmoil and experienced the power of the new beginnings in jazz of those years. In the following years Dyani played with many important representatives of free jazz such as Steve Lacy , Charles Mingus , Roland Kirk , Don Cherry , Roswell Rudd and Archie Shepp . In Europe he also worked for the first time with his compatriots Makaya Ntshoko and Dollar Brand . During this time in London, the collaboration with Derek Bailey , Irène Schweizer , Han Bennink , Rüdiger Carl and Evan Parker began as protagonists of free improvised music.

At the beginning of the 1970s Dyani moved to Copenhagen . His two daughters were born there and grew up there, as did his adopted son Thomas Dyani . The years in Scandinavia produced new musical encounters and a multitude of projects and groups. The long-term collaboration with John Tchicai , Don Cherry, Okay Temiz and Pierre Dørge was enhanced by projects with his friends from the "Blue Notes" and colleagues from the years in London and Zurich such as Harry Beckett . His move to Stockholm in the early 1980s did not break this activity: Johnny Dyani was both the motor and inspirer and accuser of the apartheid regime in South Africa.

He planned his last project at the beginning of 1986. Dyani wanted a South African band in which refugees and musicians from home would come together. The renewed state of emergency, once again brutally practiced ten years after the school revolt in Soweto , caused this plan to fail.

So his last project was again an alliance of refugees and sympathizers: a tour through Germany with concerts of their own thematic form, supported by exhibitions, accompanied by lectures, conversations and discussions. The name "Jazz against Apartheid" was born. The tour began with a concert in Berlin's "Quartier Latin". It was the last concert by Johnny "Mbizo" Dyani.

Johnny Dyani's wide musical spectrum ranged from the traditional sounds of Xhosa folk music (Dyani came from the Xhosa people) to deep into the realm of free jazz. Equipped with a powerful sound on the bass, he shaped and determined the playing style of countless formations with his song-like melody, a style of playing dominated by overtones and a brilliant rhythmic energy.

Selection discography

  • Legacy - Life in South Africa 1964 , Blue Notes, Ogun
  • Johnny Dyani / Okay Temiz / Mongezi Feza Music for Xaba, Vol. 1 & 2 , 1972, Sonet
  • Blue Notes for Mongesi , 1975, Ogun
  • Yonka (Turkey) , Okay Temiz / Johnny Dyani, 1976
  • Blue Notes in Concert, Vol. 1 , Blue Notes, 1977, Ogun
  • Spirit Rejoice , Louis Moholo Octet, 1978, Ogun
  • Witchdoctors Son , J. Dyani Sextet, 1978, SteepleChase
  • Song for Biko , J. Dyani Quartet, 1978, SteepleChase
  • 3D Family , David Murray , 1978, HatHut
  • Echos from Africa , Abdullah Ibrahim , 1979, Enja
  • Black Paladins , Joseph Jarman / Don Moye , 1979
  • Mbizo , 1981
  • Grand Mother's Teaching , 1982
  • Africa , Johnny Dyani. 1983, SteepleChase
  • Brikama , Pierre Dørge & New Jungle Orchestra, 1984
  • Even the Moon Is Dancing , Pierre Dørge & New Jungle Orchestra, 1985, SteepleChase
  • South African Exile's Thunderbolt , Chris McGregor , 1986, Pam
  • Let the Music Take You , David Murray Quartet, 1987
  • Johnny Dyani / Okay Temiz / Mongezi Feza Rejoice 1988, Cadillac (rec. 1972)
  • Witchdoctor's Son feat. Dudu Pukwana Together , 1989, Cadillac (rec. 1979/80, with Bosse Skoglund )

Web links

Remarks

  1. ↑ New Grove Dictionary of Jazz, Kunzler Jazzlexikon 2002 and Jazz Rough Guide, however, give 30 November 1945 as the birthday. According to Max Annas , Dyani has given not only 1945, but also 1947 as the year of his birth on various occasions. Cf. Max Annas: To France or Wherever - The Blue Notes and Their Exile in Europe . In: Marie-Hélène Gutberlet, Cara Snyman: Shoe Shop . Jacana Media 2012, pp. 147–153, here p. 149. Lars Rasmussen points out that Dyani himself did not know his birthday, but only guessed it. According to the Home Office in King William's Town, he was born on June 4, 1945. See biography (Lars Rasmussen, English)
  2. ^ According to New Grove Dictionary of Jazz. Jazz Rough Guide says October 26th. Kunzler Jazzlexikon states October 25, 1986
  3. ↑ Eric Ayisi Akrofi, Maria Smit, Stig-Magnus Thorsén (eds.) Music and Identity: Transformation and Negotiation Sun. Press, Stellenbosch 2007, p. 262


personal data
SURNAME Dyani, Johnny
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Dyani, Mbizo
BRIEF DESCRIPTION South African jazz musician
DATE OF BIRTH June 4, 1947
PLACE OF BIRTH East London (South Africa) , South Africa
DATE OF DEATH October 25, 1986
Place of death Berlin