Assagai -

Assagai was a London-based Afro-rock quintet comprised of three South African and two Ghanaian musicians. The band released two albums, both in 1971, on the Vertigo “swirl” label. Members included Blue Notes mainstays Dudu Pukwana, Louis Moholo, and Mongezi Feza, all concurrent players in Chris McGregor’s Brotherhood of Breath.

Assagai’s self-titled debut begins with “Telephone Girl,” a song originated that year by the English post-psych ethno combo Jade Warrior. Members of that band played backup and contributed three songs to the second Assagai album, Zimbabwe, which features cover art by Yes/Osibisa illustrator Roger Dean.

Members: Louis Moholo (drums), Mongezi Feza (trumpet, flute), Fred Coker (guitar), Dudu Pukwana (alto saxophone), Bizo Muggikana [Bizo Mnocikana] (tenor saxophone), Charles Ononogbo (bass), Terry Quaye (congas), Fred Frederick (tenor saxophone)

Background

Assagai formed in London around 1970 when Nigerian guitarist Fred Coker and bassist Charles Ononogbo teamed with South African alto saxophonist Dudu Pukwana. Trumpeter Mongezi Feza, tenor saxophonist Bizo Mngqikana, and drummer Louis Moholo completed the six-piece lineup.

Coker and Ononogbo played together in the band of Nigerian trumpeter E. C. Arinze at the Kakadu nightclub in Lagos. Both later played with singer Flash Domincii’s Supersonics in London. Pukwana, Feza, and Moholo belonged to pianist Chris McGregor’s Blue Notes, which left South Africa for the 1964 Antibes Jazz Festival and later settled in London.

In 1969, the three joined the Brotherhood of Breath, McGregor’s big band. Mngqikana played trumpet with the Havana Swingsters in East London, where his father Josias was a pianist. He formed the Jazz Rebels as a saxophonist, studied at the University of Fort Hare, and moved to Britain on a scholarship.

In late 1970, Vertigo signed Assagai through the production company Mother Mistro. The agreement also covered Jade Warrior, another group represented by the company. Assagai cut their first album with producer Dave Watson.

Discography:

Assagai (1971)
Zimbabwe (1971)

Sources

Original Assagai gatefold (1971). Watson’s sleeve notes identify the six musicians and distinguish the four South Africans from Coker and Ononogbo, who came from Nigeria. (radagast.org)
Fred Coker and Charles Ononogbo recollections. Their accounts place both musicians in Arinze’s band at the Kakadu nightclub and identify their later partnership in Assagai. (nigerianjournalsonline.com)
Flash Domincii and the Supersonics recording credits. The documented lineup includes Coker on guitar and Ononogbo on bass. (Comb and Razor)
TUM Records, Louis Moholo-Moholo biography. Details the Blue Notes’ departure, London arrival, Brotherhood of Breath, and Assagai lineup. (TUM Records)
“African Springbok flyhalf from the 1950s finally gets his colours.” Gives Mngqikana’s father, early instruments, Havana Swingsters, and Jazz Rebels. (Daily Dispatch)
Håkan Thörn, Anti-Apartheid and the Emergence of a Global Civil Society. Documents Mngqikana’s Fort Hare studies and University of London scholarship. (South African History Online)
Glyn Havard autobiography and Assagai reissue notes. Havard describes the Mother Mistro agreement; the reissue notes date the Vertigo signing to late 1970. (Glyn Havard autobiography; Assagai reissue notes)