The Jazz Epistles

The Jazz Epistles were South Africa's first important bebop band. Inspired by Art Blakey's Jazz Messengers, its members included Dollar Brand on piano, Kippie Moeketsi on alto saxophone, Jonas Gwangwa on trombone, Hugh Masekela on trumpet, Johnny Gertze on bass, and Early Mabuza or Makaya Ntshoko on drums. The group became famous after performing in the jam sessions called Jazz at the Odin in the Odin Theater in Sophiatown. The group was formed in the mid-1950s when Brand and Mackay Davashe began working together initiated a collaboration with Gwangwa and Masekela. In 1959 just before breaking up, the Jazz Epistles recorded the first album by a black South African band, Jazz Epistle, Verse 1. That same year, composer Todd Matshikiza's musical King Kong became a hit in Johannesburg. It used a jazz score to tell the tragic story of South African heavyweight boxer Ezekiel "King Kong" Dhlamini. Miriam Makeba, members of the Manhattan Brothers, and the Jazz Epistles musicians were involved in the production. The 1960 Sharpeville Massacre marked the beginning of an era of vicious apartheid and greater repression of African culture. From Wikipedia (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Jaz...) under Creative Commons Attribution CC-BY-SA 3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/b...)