A memorial concert and fundraiser for the great South Afrikan drummer, Louis Moholo-Moholo.
27th August 2025
The 100 Club, 100 Oxford Street, London W1
Featuring:
Claude Deppa and friends
Viva La Black featuring Alexander Hawkins, Jason Yarde and Shabaka
and many more!
Tickets will be on sale soon through the club and online – £20/£15
Mike Gavin, label manager at Cadillac and Ogun Records, has a new monthly radio show over on One Jazz! Jazz Progression looks at the growth of community music in the 1970s – the DIY ethic forced on musicians by the social, economic and cultural changes at the beginning of the decade (sound familiar?) – and plays music gems which maybe aren’t getting played so much elsewhere.
Read more here, and listen to the latest episode now:
For future episodes, listen live at onejazz.net, or:
Cadillac Records, Ogun Records and My Only Desire Records will be sharing a stall at the excellent Independent Label Market Sat 10 May 2025 at Coal Drops Yard round the back of Kings Cross. Come along and say hullo… there’s beer, music and loads of like-minded labels selling their wares.
My Only Desire Records is a recorded music label based in Plumstead, SE London, exhuming lost sounds and celebrating ‘60s, ‘70s & ‘80s jazz and the music it has inspired.
The legendary Ogun Records logo once again graces a T-shirt! Black on gold. Soft cotton Gildan shirt – partners with Better Cotton to improve cotton farming globally. Made with OEKO-TEX certified low-impact dyes. Posted in 100% biodegradable packaging. T shirt design by frodedesign.com. Manufacture by www.noisemerch.com.
Ogun Records featured in the legendary Record Collector Magazine section – Diggin’ For Gold! Thanks to scribe Paul Bowler for this fine looking piece!
Issued on CD for the very first time, this beautiful album was Louis Moholo-Moholo’s second as a leader. His group, Viva La Black, now included younger members of the South Afrikan and Caribbean diaspora, including the Jazz Warrior Steve Williamson. Arguably overlooked on release, the album, newly remastered from the tapes and including a couple of extra tracks, sounds vibrant and fresh and demonstrates Louis’ strength as a bandleader in the Art Blakey style.
The reissue includes two bonus tracks, never before issued, new sleeve notes and a new photo.
Original album recorded at the Covent Garden Jazz Saxophone Festival 1989 and released on CD by Ogun in 1990. Reissued 24 May 2024 with new artwork and notes.The CD includes a code to download the newly remastered audio from the previously unissued 1991 Le Mans concert.
Elton is a central figure both in the development of the British jazz scene through the ’70s and beyond, and in the rock scene at the time. Known to wider audiences through his connection to the Soft Machine, his sinuous, post-Coltrane lines on alto and the rare saxello appear in many progressive contexts in the period. His compositions were strong too, reflecting an interest in melody and lyricism, and this band is a showcase for the strength of his music. It also demonstrates Elton’s abilities as an arranger – the unusual line up extracts gold from these already fine pieces in it’s ensemble sonorities. Of course, the band is top-notch, featuring the finest UK saxists of the time, with a wonderful rhythm section. Tony Levin in particular is an undersung hero of the drums.
The Unlimited Saxophone Company was a short-lived band. As far as we can tell there were only three gigs: 7th May 1989 at the Community Centre, London (London Jazz Saxophone Festival); 5th April 1991 at the Vortex, London and the May edition of the Europa Jazz Festival, Le Mans 1991. The first was recorded and released on Ogun, and is reissued here. The last was filmed by Phillipe Renaud. As this music is so rare we’ve taken the decision to have the sound from that concert mastered and offer it with this as a download on the CD only.
Nice review by Stewart Smith in the current issue of The Wire: Adventures In Modern Music of the Cadillac/Ogun 50th anniversary gig:
For the latest issue I’ve reviewed the wonderful Cadillac/Ogun Records 50th birthday celebration at Café OTO featuring Mike Westbrook, Alexander Hawkins Jason Yarde, Neil Charles, Ntshuks Bonga, Steve Noble et al.
Check out the December issue here.
Jez Nelson put together a tribute to Cadillac and Ogun Records and a celebration of their 50th anniversaries on his excellent show Somethin’ Else on Jazz FM last Sunday night.
Over three hours he provides a thorough overview of the history of both labels and features music from Mike Westbrook, Louis Moholo-Moholo, The Brotherhood of Breath, Harry Miller, Elton Dean, Joy and many others. Listen again at this link…
“A cleverly constructed and joyous evening”
The words of Geoff Winston, in his beautiful review for London Jazz News, reflecting on the Cadillac & Ogun records joint 50th anniversary celebration at Café OTO on 28th September.
Recently rediscovered and remastered footage of The Blue Notes playing at Ronnie Scott’s Old Place held us spellbound, the great Mike Westbrooke took to the stage with Chris Biscoe to enchant us with an “unpremeditated” collaboration, and Alex Hawkins’ septet rounded off the night with a transcendent intensity well worthy of the occasion.
Many, many thanks to all who have been part of the Cadillac and Ogun stories over the years – too many to mention – and to the staff at Café OTO. Photos below courtesy of Riccardo Bergerone and Karen Wishbone. See also the Cadillac facebook page for more pics and this review (in Italian) in Roman ‘communist’ newspaper Il Manifesto.
Ogun Recordings