The Dedication Orchestra
The Dedication Orchestra was a British creative jazz big band that existed primarily in the 1990s. It was founded and directed by Louis Moholo .
history
The Dedication Orchestra saw itself as a tribute orchestra reminiscent of the music of the South African band The Blue Notes and their composers. Two generations of the British jazz scene played in it at a first concert at 100 Club in London on New Year's Day 1992. It included musicians like Harry Beckett , Alan Skidmore , Radu Malfatti , Django Bates , Kenny Wheeler , Elton Dean , Lol Coxhill , Evan Parker , Paul Rutherford, and many other musicians like Keith Tippett , Louis Moholo (the last surviving member of the Blue Notes ) as well as singers Julie Tippetts and Maggie Nichols . The intention of the concert was to commemorate the deceased band members of the Blue Notes and the Brotherhood of Breath such as the saxophonist Dudu Pukwana , the trumpeter Mongezi Feza , Chris McGregor and the bassists Johnny Dyani and Harry Miller and at the same time to support the Fund Spirits Rejoice taking care of young talent in South Africa.
Two days after performing at 100 Club, the formation went into the studio and recorded numbers from the concert; the arrangements were by Keith Tippett, Kenny Wheeler, Eddie Parker , John Warren , Jim Dvorak , Django Bates and Radu Malfatti. The main soloists were Harry Beckett in Pukwana's Hug Pine , Jim Dvorak in his arrangement of Feza's Sonia , Evan Parker and Keith Tippett in McGregor's Andromeda .
Two years later, the album Ixesha (Time) with compositions by Johnny Dyani ( Wish You Sunshine ), McGregor ( The Serpent's Kindly Eye ) was created with a similar line-up . Contributing musicians were again Paul Rutherford, Kenny Wheeler, Jim Dvorak, Malcolm Griffiths , Radu Malfatti, Lol Coxhill, Elton Dean, Evan Parker, Chris Biscoe , Claude Deppa and Paul Rogers as well as Sean Bergin and Henry Lowther . In June 2001, the formation performed with guests such as Larry Stabbins at the Jazz Festival in Verona. In 2003 the orchestra played with a slightly different line-up under the direction of Steve Beresford for the BBC.
Discographic notes
- Spirits Rejoice ( Ogun 1992)
- Ixesha (Time) (Ogun, 1994)
literature
- Richard Cook , Brian Morton : The Penguin Guide to Jazz Recordings . 8th edition. Penguin, London 2006, ISBN 0-14-102327-9 .
- Bielefeld catalog jazz. 2001.
Web links
- The Dedication Orchestra at Allmusic (English)
Individual evidence
- ↑ Verona Jazz 2001
- ^ Ian Carr Rough Guide Jazz London 2004, p. 101