Mongezi Feza

From HitStory, the pop encyclopedia of School of Rock · Artist

Mongezi Feza (1945 to 1975) was a South African jazz trumpeter, flautist and composer. He was born in Queenstown in the Cape Province, into a family of musicians. His older brother Sandi taught him to play the trumpet in the township of Mlungisi. He received his first trumpet at the age of eight. In 1962 he joined Chris McGregor's Blue Notes, who were named best band at a South African jazz festival in 1963 but, because of the apartheid laws, could hardly perform together.

Music and breakthrough

In 1964 Feza left South Africa with the Blue Notes. They played first in France and Switzerland and then settled in London, where Feza also lived in Copenhagen. When the group broke up at the end of the 1960s, he played in McGregor's sextet and in his Brotherhood of Breath, with Dudu Pukwana, Johnny Dyani and the Afro-rock group Assagai, and with rock musicians such as Robert Wyatt, Henry Cow, Centipede and Gary Windo.

Influence

Feza was influenced by the hard bop player Clifford Brown and by Don Cherry, the leading figure of free jazz. His playing combined hard bop, free jazz and jazz rock. His compositions Sonia and You Ain't Gonna Know Me ('Cos You Think You Know Me) remained in the repertoire of his colleagues for a long time. He died in London in December 1975 of untreated pneumonia. Shortly afterwards his old bandmates recorded Blue Notes for Mongezi in his memory. His own recordings appeared on, among others, Music For Xaba.

Listening

Discography

Studio albums

• 1973Music For Xaba
• 1980Music For Xaba Volume Two
• 2004Free Jam

In School of Rock

The chapters, maps and magazine stories of School of Rock are currently available in Dutch only.

• After Hours: Session 3^NL Reader