Chris McGregor / Louis Moholo / Dudu Pukwana, Blue Notes for Johnny (side A)

The Blue Notes were a pioneering, racially integrated, experimental jazz group in South Africa in the early 1960s.  They migrated to London in 1964, and the individual members remained active long after the group splintered.  They're best-known beyond jazz circles for Mongezi Feza's collaboration with Robert Wyatt and Chris McGregor's appearance on a Nick Drake album.  As the 4 surviving members recorded a tribute album on Feza's death in 1976, a similar trio reunion followed Dyani's death.  1987's Blue Notes for Johnny still captures the magic of the group.  Wildly swinging rhythms of African music intertwine freely with jazz syncopation and Pukwana's soulful solos.  Moholo's percussion sometimes drives the rhythm, and others weaves freely around the two melodic instruments—unfortunately, his playing sounds a bit muffled here.  The piano and saxophone, on the other hand, sound a bit too bright and inorganic.  The simple cover photo is tasteful, though it's hard to know if these are Dyani's hands or merely a random image.