"Give peace a chance," chants drummer Louis Moholo over the groove of his tune Woza, while introducing each of the 25-strong Dedication Orchestra. The band was formed to keep alive the legacy of Moholo's fellow South African musicians, and their influence: on Jazz Jamaica, the Annie Whitehead/Robert Wyatt project, and the work of ex-Loose Tubes musicians such as Eddie Parker and Django Bates, who, along with John Warren, Kenny Wheeler and others, contributed arrangements to the repertoire. They had great material to work with, such as Dudu Pukwana's B My Dear and MRA, Chris McGregor's Manje and Union Special, and Mongezi Feza's Sondela.
The line-up includes some of the great originals of British jazz: Harry Beckett, Evan Parker, Elton Dean. Together they make a glorious sound, fired by Moholo's kit and sweetened by a four-strong choir of Julie Tippetts, Maggie Nicols, David Serame and Phil Minton, whose bizarre detours mix happily with the vocal harmonies. The sound is massive: a huge quantity of distinctive tone qualities that rub together without blending into blandness. The way the musicians work together is exemplary - a bustling mix of freedom and discipline, of community and individualism.
The stylistic differences in solos can be a surprise. Ray Warleigh (alto) and Noel Langley (flugelhorn) are melodic; Larry Stabbins (tenor) is robust and exhilarating; Alan Tomlinson (bass trombone) performs an explosively free-form solo while conductor Steve Beresford cues in background stabs and pads with crisp hand signals. A bouncy mid-tempo number, over a chord cycle typical of South African kwela, implodes into a bass solo by Paul Rogers (on great form) before springing into rattling freeform trio with pianist Keith Tippett, whose sound suffers a little through the PA. But before you know it, we're immersed in another swinging, rolling ensemble section, driven hard by the amazing Moholo.
The Dedication Orchestra may seem to have a polystylistic, cut-and-paste approach that's in tune with these restless times. But it is one that springs from the co-operation of strong-willed individuals. Democracy in action.
