DER SÜDAFRIKANISCHE JAZZ-SCHLAGZEUGER LOUIS MOHOLO IST GESTORBEN

Der am 10. März 1940 in Kapstadt geborene südafrikanische Jazz-Schlagzeuger Louis Moholo (Bild) ist am 13. Juni 2025 ebenda gestorben. Er prägte den Jazz zusammen u.a. mit Johnny Dyani, Mongezi Feza, Dudu Pukwana und Chris McGregor massgeblich in Südafrika und weit darüber hinaus. Er spielte oft in der Schweiz und auf internationalen Bühnen u.a. mit Irène Schweizer, Steve Lacy, Wolfgang Dauner, Alexander von Schlippenbach, Peter Brötzmann, Keith Tippett, John Tchicai oder Cecil Taylor. 2005 kehrte Moholo aus dem Exil nach Südafrika zurück und lebte wieder in Kapstadt, wo er inzwischen eine eigene Bigband (Hear our Heart’s Vibrations) aufgebaut hatte. (*)

Bild: Louis Moholo, 2019 – Foto: Dirk Neven, https://www.flickr.com/people/146907430@N03 – Public domain – Datei: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Louis_Moholo-Moholo_%275_Blokes%27,BIM_5_september_2019-Louis_Moholo_DSC03477(48687185046).jpg

Farewell to Louis Moholo-Moholo: Jazz revolutionary and anti-apartheid voice dies at 85

The South African jazz world has lost one of its greatest pioneers. Louis Tebogo Moholo-Moholo, the internationally acclaimed drummer and last surviving member of the Blue Notes sextet, died at age 85.

In 1964, facing increasing racial oppression that limited their ability to perform together as a mixed-race group, the Blue Notes left South Africa to perform at the Antibes Jazz Festival in France. What was initially planned as a temporary departure became permanent exile as apartheid’s grip tightened at home.

Constance Gaanakgomo

https://www.news24.com/life/arts-and-entertainment/music/farewell-to-louis-moholo-moholo-jazz-revolutionary-and-anti-apartheid-voice-dies-at-85-20250613-0943

The Sonic Legacy of Louis Moholo-Moholo

Following the passing of the legendary drummer, those who knew, learned from, and played with him gathered in Johannesburg to remember him not with eulogies, but with sound — in the spirit of the freedom he lived for.

A founding member of Chris McGregor’s The Blue Notes and a towering figure in South Africa’s avant-garde jazz tradition, Moholo-Moholo leaves behind a storied legacy, one defined by constant innovation and an unyielding pursuit of freedom. He deconstructed nursery rhymes, elevated church hymns to celestial heights, and left behind a trail of unforgettable sayings that continue to echo among lovers of improvised music.

Tselio Monaheng

https://www.okayafrica.com/louis-moholo-moholo

Obituary: Louis Moholo-Moholo

Matthew Wright remembers in detail the life and work of the South African drummer whose dynamic playing and fusion of hard bop and SA township music set alight the 60s-70s progressive jazz scene in London

https://jazzjournal.co.uk/2025/06/16/obituary-louis-moholo-moholo/

RIP Louis Moholo-Moholo

I hardly have words to convey my admiration for the life he led, or the music he made, so let me offer some from others who heard him.

If I cast my mind back to the Bracknell Festivals of the 1970s and ‘80s, Moholo, in exile from his home country, was a regular inspiration. It’s usual to say he was the last surviving member of the legendary Blue Notes, but there were so many other astonishing bands, often as the house drummer for Ogun Records. A quote from Steve Lake in the festival programme for 1979, when he led Spirits Rejoice, sums up his qualities well:



«To my mind the most beautiful ‘time’ player to have emerged since Elvin Jones first set the John Coltrane Quartet on fire in the early Sixties, Louis draws rhythms out of nowhere, brings a sense of cohesion and righteous logic to the most uncompromising free blowing, even while stoking the excitement to almost unbelievable plateaux of intensity. His intuitive balance – between control and intensity is very rare: most drummers possess either one quality or the other.»

Jon Turney

https://ukjazznews.com/rip-louis-moholo-moholo-1940-2025/

Louis Moholo-Moholo (…) was one of the most explosive and inventive drummers in the history of any music let alone jazz

He had both a disarming polyrhythmic ability and highly percussive approach to the kit, which often saw him create a constant ebb and flow of complex beats that lent both density and intricacy to any context. The South African made notes dance.  

Kevin Le Gendre

https://www.jazzwise.com/news/article/louis-moholo-moholo-10-03-40-13-06-2025

Audio / Videos:

Irène Schweizer & Louis Moholo Moholo – Unlimited #29, Schlachthof, Wels, Austria, 2015-11-06

Irène Schweizer & Louis Moholo – Irène Schweizer & Louis Moholo (Full Album, 1987, spiritual jazz)

BIMHUIS TV | Louis Moholo Moholo «5 Blokes» | Part 1, 2019

Mehr:

https://www.allmusic.com/artist/mn0000227171

https://www.discogs.com/de/artist/314299-Louis-Moholo

https://web.archive.org/web/20160306215432/http://www.culturebase.net/artist.php?4089

https://web.archive.org/web/20220818021252/http://www.efi.group.shef.ac.uk/fulltext/ftmoholo.html

http://www.fmp-label.de/freemusicproduction/musiker/moholo.html

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Louis_Moholo

(*) https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Louis_Moholo

#LouisMoholo #CHcultura @CHculturaCH ∆cultura cultura+