Since Hugh Masekela fled apartheid South Africa for London and New York in 1961, a continuous musical current has flowed between Johannesburg, London, and Chicago. Among the earliest South African artists to settle in London after Masekela were the members of the Blue Notes, who reshaped British jazz with South African lyricism and urgency. Then came pianist Bheki Mseleku in 1977, earning a Mercury Prize nomination and deepening the city’s African musical vocabulary. Decades later, beginning in the early 2010s, British musician Shabaka Hutchings forged new links between London and Johannesburg through collaborations with local South African musicians. Around the same time, Total Refreshment Centre in Hackney became a connective hub bridging music scenes across continents. Today, the flow of influence continues in both directions, demonstrating how jazz has evolved through shared histories of migration, exile, experimentation, and artistic solidarity across the African diaspora.
Okay Africa