Jazz Articles about Mongezi Feza

Mongezi Feza: Free Jam

by Andrey Henkin
July 25, 2004

When South African trumpeter Mongezi Feza passed away in 1975 at age thirty, a mere eleven years after leaving the oppressive regime of his native country, jazz lost a musician who bridged the gap between Freddie Hubbard and Don Cherry.

“Mongs," as he was affectionately called, was not an avant-garde player or a trad player--rather he was pure energy, directed in a tight beam at whatever group of musicians he was working with: the members of the Blue Notes, the ...