Chris McGregor's Brotherhood of Breath

*2025 reissue* Chris McGregor and his Brotherhood of Breath unleash one of the most essential big band recordings ever committed to vinyl! This is the real deal - South African freedom music meeting British free jazz intensity in an absolute explosion of sound and spirit. Recorded in 1971, this debut captures McGregor's revolutionary vision at its most raw and uncompromising - traditional African rhythms colliding with free jazz ferocity in ways that still sound shocking today.

The lineup reads like a who's who of radical improvisation: Dudu Pukwana on alto sax bringing Township jazz fire, Mongezi Feza on trumpet with that unmistakable South African lyricism, Evan Parker and John Surman adding British avant-garde intensity, and Louis Moholo on drums driving everything forward with relentless African polyrhythms. This is music of exile and resistance - banned in apartheid South Africa, embraced by London's underground jazz community.

Every track here is a journey. The opening track "Andromeda" stretches past 18 minutes of collective improvisation that builds from whispers to roars. This is ethno-jazz at its most uncompromising - not world music fusion, but a genuine meeting of equals, a true brotherhood making music that acknowledges no borders. Highest recommendations! Essential listening for anyone who cares about creative music that matters! Hold on to your hats!