Chris McGregor: Biography

• Overview
• Discography
• Biography
• Related Artists

• Videos
• Photos
• Groups/Boards
• Fan Sites

• Mandala Octet
• Abdullah Ibrahim
• George Gruntz
• Sun Ra
• Joe Malinga
• Pierre Dorge
• Mandala

• Cecil Taylor
• Don Cherry
• Horace Silver
• Bud Powell

• Dudu Pukwana

• District Six
• Lucky Ranku

• The Blue Notes
• The Brotherhood of Breath

• Nick Drake
• Harry Beckett

Born:

Dec 24, 1936 in Umtata, South Africa

Died:

May 26, 1990 in Ager, France

Genres:

Jazz Music, Avant Garde Jazz Music, Latin Jazz Music, Free Jazz Music

Decades Active:

1960's|1970's|1980's|1990's

Artistic Quality

Low

Cultural Impact

Low

Popularity

Low

Ratings Guide

Chris McGregor was born the son of a Scottish missionary, brought up on church hymns, and Xhosa dances. He studied at the Cape Town College of Music and discovered the black jazz scene. His septet played in the ~1962 National Jazz Festival and after founding the Blue Notes in 1963, he led a big band. Harassed by the authorities, they escaped the country through an invitation to the ~1964 Antibes Jazz Festival. Fellow expatriate Abdullah Ibrahim helped them find work in Zurich, then at ~Ronnie Scott's in London, and at the ~Café Montmartre in Copenhagen. the Blue Notes mixed South African rhythms with free improvisation, an unprecedented fusion that created a completely original, unmistakable style (In Concert, Vol. 1 2, Ogun 1978). McGregor's big band Brotherhood of Breath enlarged the Blue Notes with free improvisers (Evan Parker, Trevor Watts, Paul Rutherford). They toured Europe to cheering audiences, but their studio records for RCA in the early '70s weren't adequately promoted. Their exciting and joyous live performances are captured on releases by independent labels Ogun and Cuneiform. Keeping a large unit together became impossible and when McGregor moved into the more comfortable climate of the south of France, the Brotherhood reunited only intermittently and he played with smaller groups or solo (heard on Piano Song, Vol. 1 2, Musica 1977, and In His Good Time, Ogun 1978). An Ellingtonian musician, his real instrument being the orchestra, McGregor had a thick, percussive, and yet melodic piano style. A continental big band was reunited in the '80s (Yes Please, InOut 1981, and Country Cooking, Virgin 1988) and well-received, but failed to fully re-create the excitement of the original band.

- Francesco Martinelli, All Music Guide