Who would've thought that it would happen? A small foreign label having such an impact on South African music? Well, twenty-five years ago, a simple boikie from Melville and his down-to-earth English meisie started a small label called Ogun Records, which has left an indelible mark on the history of South African music.

It all started sometime in the mid-70s when bassist Harry Miller and his wife Hazel wanted a platform to record the distinctive brand of Jazz which is unique to South Africa. Down the line, a host of South African musicians have released their music on the label, most notably Miller himself, drummer Louis Moholo (pictured above) and most of the works of pianist Chris McGregor's Brotherhood of Breath, and the likes of drummer Brian Abrahams and his District Six.

Moholo is the only surviving member of that era of of musicians. And in London recently, along with Hazel Miller, Moholo celebrated Ogun Records' 25th anniversary.

Moholo (and his other mates from the seminal Blue Notes) arrived in Britain in the mid 60s, and their impact was so meaningful that it changed the direction of British Jazz. Miller had arrived a few years earlier. They went on to inspire other young British musicians.

While Ogun did not really make an impact in London outside a small circle affecianados, it did produce some of the most notable recordings of South African musicians abroad since its first, Miller's 1974 solo recording "Children at Play".

In terms of its association with South Africans, Ogun is right up there with the likes of Enja Records (and its work with Abdullah Ibrahim)

Tebogo Alexander