The Jazz Epistles
| The Jazz Epistles | |
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| About | |
| Formed | 1956 |
| Years Active | 1956-1961 |
| Genre | Bebop • Cape Jazz | Label | Continental Records | Members |
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Inspired by Solomon Cele's Jazz Maniacs and Art Blakey's revered Jazz Messengers collective, the Jazz Epistles were a bebop sextet that would go on to record the country's first album by a black band. They got their start at the Ambassadors Club in Cape Town, where they would sleep on mattresses after performances. Their live performances were extremely popular, and they quickly outgrew the Ambassadors club that they had started in.
Background
The band was founded in the mid 1950s, where Kippie introduced a young Abdullah Ibrahim (then known as Dollar Brand) to Ntshoko, Gertse, Masekela, and Gwangwa.
While touring South Africa in 1959, John Mehegan recorded an album with some of the country's leading jazz musicians, including Epistle members Masekela, Meoketsi, and Gwangwa. After Mehegan's departure, Ibrahim reclaimed his place on keys, and was joined by Gertse and Ntshoko on bass and drums, respectively.
They went on to regularly sell out the Odin Theatre, the continent's biggest music venue at the time. Unlike their Messenger inspirations, the Epistles wouldn't last long, having to break up due to mounting pressure from the Apartheid government. They released just one album, Verse 1, before the country's political climate post-Sharpeville Massacre caused many of the Epistles under exile in the US and UK, where they continued their diverging careers.