Home » Jazz Articles » Album Review » Chris McGregor: Our Prayer

Chris McGregor: Our Prayer

By Stuart Broomer
November 6, 2009
View read count

Chris McGregor (1936-1990) is best known as the pianist/leader of the Brotherhood of Breath and its small band antecedent the Blue Notes, the group that he formed in South Africa in 1963. The inter-racial band elected for a voluntary European exile from their homeland and its policies that would ban their very right to assemble. In the heady '60s, their blend of bop and Township rhythms rapidly melded with free jazz, creating one of the most dynamic musical mixes of the era.

McGregor recorded Our Prayer, a rare piano trio CD, in 1969 with the virtuosic and intrepid bassist

Barre Phillips

bass
b.1934

" data-original-title="" title="">Barre Phillips and Blue Notes drummer

Louis Moholo-Moholo

drums
1940 - 2025

" data-original-title="" title="">Louis Moholo-Moholo. He was soon turning his efforts to the newly-formed Brotherhood though and the trio CD was shelved. It's a welcome release, dynamic music with an identity of its own and a complement to McGregor's band efforts and solo CDs.

The opening "Church Mouse" announces the South African connection immediately, suffused with melodic and rhythmic values that will at once suggest fellow South African ex-pat

Abdullah Ibrahim

piano
b.1934

" data-original-title="" title="">Abdullah Ibrahim. But McGregor's style is looser, with sudden keyboard splashes and disconnected runs that reveal the impact of free jazz. McGregor's "Moonlight Aloe" is a Monk-ish ballad, filled with subtle dissonances while Phillips' "Spike Nard" is more elusive still, shifting in its opening seconds from moody, elusive chords to a brief, brisk and

Paul Bley

piano
1932 - 2016

" data-original-title="" title="">Paul Bley-like theme and then to energetic free play in which McGregor's percussive runs tumble up and down the keyboard like

Cecil Taylor

piano
1929 - 2018

" data-original-title="" title="">Cecil Taylor.

It's a dramatic contrast, filled with odd and alien percussion and driven forward with startling momentum to an eerie and sound-centered world with metallic glissandos from Moholo and the sound of a creaking door from Phillips' bowed bass. It's clearly preparation for the 25-minute title tune, a free flowing invention that evolves through rapidly changing textures and densities to create an almost exhaustive account of period free jazz piano trio methodologies. Alternately dark and playful, it's a window on McGregor's most personal voice: fluent, thoughtful and always conversational.

Learn more about our star rating system

Track Listing

Church Mouse; Moonlight Aloe; Spike Nard; Our Prayer.

Personnel

Chris McGregor

Chris McGregor: piano; Barre Phillips: bass; Louis Moholo: drums.

Album information

Title: Our Prayer | Year Released: 2009 | Record Label: Fledg'ling Records

PREVIOUS / NEXT

About Us
< Previous

A Smooth Journey
Next >

Support All About Jazz

All About Jazz has been a pillar of jazz since 1995, championing it as an art form and, more importantly, supporting the musicians who make it. Our enduring commitment has made "AAJ" one of the most culturally important websites of its kind, read by hundreds of thousands of fans, musicians and industry figures every month.

Go Ad Free!

To maintain our platform while developing new means to foster jazz discovery and connectivity, we need your help. You can become a sustaining member for as little as $20 and in return, we'll immediately hide those pesky ads plus provide access to future articles for a full year. This winning combination vastly improves your AAJ experience and allow us to vigorously build on the pioneering work we first started in 1995. So enjoy an ad-free AAJ experience and help us remain a positive beacon for jazz by making a donation today.