Louis Moholo | |
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 Moholo in 2008 | |
| Background information | |
| Also known as | Louis Moholo-Moholo |
| Born | Louis Tebogo Moholo 10 March 1940 Cape Town, Cape Province, South Africa |
| Died | 13 June 2025 (aged 85) Cape Town, South Africa |
| Genre | Jazz |
| Occupation | Musician |
| Instrument | Drums |
| Formerly of | |
Louis Tebogo Moholo (10 March 1940 – 13 June 2025) was a South African jazz drummer. He was a member of several notable bands, including The Blue Notes, the Brotherhood of Breath and Assagai.
Born in Langa, Cape Town, South Africa, on 10 March 1940, Moholo formed The Blue Notes with Chris McGregor, Johnny Dyani, Nikele Moyake, Mongezi Feza and Dudu Pukwana, and emigrated to Europe with them in 1964, eventually settling in 1965 in London, where he formed part of a South African exile community that made an important contribution to British jazz. In 1966, he toured Buenos Aires, Argentina, where he performed at the Theatron with Steve Lacy, Johnny Dyani and Enrico Rava and recorded the album The Forest and the Zoo with the same musicians. He was a member of the Brotherhood of Breath, a big band comprising several South African exiles and leading musicians of the British free jazz scene in the 1970s and was the founder of Viva la Black and The Dedication Orchestra. His first album under his own name, Spirits Rejoice on Ogun Records, is considered a classic example of the combination of British and South African players. In the early 1970s, Moholo was also a member of the afro-rock band Assagai and Dudu Pukwana's Spear.
Moholo played with many musicians, including Derek Bailey, Steve Lacy, Evan Parker, Enrico Rava, Roswell Rudd, Irène Schweizer, Cecil Taylor, John Tchicai, Archie Shepp, Peter Brötzmann, Mike Osborne, Keith Tippett, Elton Dean and Harry Miller.
Moholo returned to South Africa in September 2005, performing with George E. Lewis at the UNYAZI Festival of Electronic Music in Johannesburg. He subsequently used the name Louis Moholo-Moholo, because the surname was more ethnically authentic. In March 2017 South African promoter Slow Life produced a show at the Olympia Bakery in Kalk Bay, Cape Town, where Moholo performed along with Mark Fransman, Reza Khota, Keenan Ahrends and Brydon Bolton.
Moholo died after a lengthy illness in Cape Town, on 13 June 2025, at the age of 85.
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