Jazz Epistle - Verse 1

The Jazz Epistles are said to be South Africa’s first bebop band, and Jazz Epistle Verse I is the first ever album by a black South African jazz band. With band members including pianist Abdullah Ibrahim, aka Dollar Brand, and trumpeter Hugh Masekela, it’s no wonder that this album is an absolute delight, with its mix of American jazz and township soul. The band toured Europe with the “King Kong” musical, and it was then that two tragic events, the Sharpeville massacre and the demolition of Sophiatown, which had been central to the birth of township jazz, took place, marking an even more intense period of violent repression and segregation. The members of the Jazz Epistles remained in self-imposed exile abroad, where they continued to raise awareness about apartheid and to garner support for the anti-apartheid movement.