The moment of Joy
After a great deal of activity on the British jazz scene of the early 1970s, things were starting to go quiet by the time a quintet called Joy came along. The generation centred on Mike Westbrook, Graham Collier, Keith Tippett, Howard Riley, the Spontaneous Music Ensemble and the Blue Notes had flared brightly before settling down for the longer haul. Around the corner in the next decade would be the media attention given to the new wave of Courtney Pine, Andy Sheppard, Loose Tubes and the Jazz Warriors. Caught in the middle, Joy appeared at a time when the spotlight was pointed elsewhere.
Joy had nothing to do with fashions in jazz. They were untouched by fusion, for instance. They played acoustic music, keeping the flame alive without turning it into the sort of purist mission proclaimed by the Marsalis brothers a few years later. Perhaps they were also among the last young jazz musicians to take the stage wearing what they’d put on when they got up that morning. There was no image, no marketing campaign.
I remember being convinced even before the group came together in 1976 that two of their members in particular, the drummer Keith Bailey and the alto saxophonist Chris Francis, both born in 1948, were destined to become stars. I’d heard Bailey when he followed Ginger Baker and Jon Hiseman into Graham Bond’s band, and felt immediately that he was something special: he had a quality — a lithe swing combined with all the power he needed — that I found again the first time I heard Moses Boyd, 40 years later. The extravagantly talented Francis combined bebop chops with Mike Osborne’s emotionality (filtering Jackie McLean’s sweet sourness) and Dudu Pukwana’s cry. Both spoke their chosen language as if they’d been born to it.
The other members of the band were the draft-dodging American trumpeter Jim Dvorak, the South African bassist Ernest Mothle and the very fine London-born pianist Frank Roberts, the youngest of the five. All except Mothle contributed compositions to the self-titled album they made in 1976 for Cadillac Records, founded by the late John Jack and now celebrating its 50th anniversary. What turned out to be Joy’s only release is among the albums reissued to celebrate the label’s golden jubilee, restored and remastered for CD and digital release with the addition of unedited and unreleased tracks.
As Bailey says in the sleeve notes, Joy played straight-ahead modern jazz, stepping aside from the adventures in freedom in which others were engaged. Imagine a young Horace Silver Quintet, with an infusion of the Blue Notes’ irresistible townships flavour and touches of modal jazz as refined by Herbie Hancock: you could have plonked them down anywhere in the world, from New York to Tokyo, and they would impressed the most sophisticated of modern jazz audiences.
After Joy disbanded, Francis spent some years as a photographer; he now lives in Surrey, where he plays and teaches. Bailey moved to the US in 1980, briefly studied drums with Andrew Cyrille and composition with Morton Feldman, and is based in Santa Fe; he stopped playing regular drums in 1986, in order to concentrate on solo percussion recitals. Frank Roberts remained active on the London scene for many years and is now based in Aarhus, Denmark. Jim Dvorak, having appeared with the Dedication Orchestra and Keith Tippett’s Mujician, continues to play and work in London. Ernest Mothle, whose strength and inventiveness made him the fulcrum of the quintet, appeared with his old friends Hugh Masekela and Jonas Gwanga at Nelson Mandela’s 70th birthday concert at Wembley in 1988 before returning to South Africa, where he died in Pretoria from diabetes-related conditions in 2011.
As young musicians together, for an all too brief span of time in the 1970s, they had something special going. Their album is a pungent and vivid reminder of its time, but more than deserves its place in the present.
* The photograph of Joy is by the late Jak Kilby. Left to right: Jim Dvorak, Ernest Mothle, Frank Roberts, Keith Bailey and Chris Francis. The album is out now on the Cadillac label: cadillacrecords77.com
thebluemoment.com 
Great piece. Can’t wait to hear the album.
Nice post. Have occasionally wondered whatever happened to Keith Bailey. Now I know. Had more or less forgotten about Joy so good to be reminded of them. Loved the UK jazz scene in that era even though it was, to say the least, marginalized. Excellent bands like Roger Dean’s Lysis, Alan Wakeman’s Triton, Major Surgery,Ray Russel’s various adventures, John Taylor’s bands, Amalgam and the various Ogun outfits. You might hear them on Radio 3 or a Peter Clayton session if you were lucky.
Thank you for this Richard. I saw Joy several times in London in 1974-5. Frank Roberts was a superb pianist and his departure from the UK was a big loss to British Jazz. I think I preferred Keith Bailey’s work with Dave DeFries’ wonderful Maranatha. But this piece is celebrating an overlooked area of British Jazz, so what’s not to like? I look forward to hearing the album. I am sure it will bring back memories.
I saw Keith Bailey subbing for Louis Moholo in Harry Miller’s Isipingo at the Swan , Stockwell. A last minute call probably , since l remember him assembling his kit while the others were already playing.
After that description of the playing of Chris Francis I really need to listen to him again
Really fascinating. Thanks!
Not previously aware of this gem so thanks once again Richard for extending my horizons and introducing me to another great discovery.
http://www.grahambond.org/interview_kb.html
Fascinating interview with Keith Bailey
That piece brings back memories of a number of very fine players on the UK jazz scene of the time, as does Tim Adkin’s mention of Major Surgery and the great Don Weller. I placed an order for ‘Joy’ immediately after reading this. As you say, Jim Dvorak is still active. I recall a short conversation with him at the Vortex one evening a few years ago which touched briefly on his contribution to Annabel Lamb’s ‘Once Bitten’ album from 1983, which he seemed to have fond memories of; good album, worth checking out.
Graham,
Major Surgery were great weren’t they? Apart from their solitary album there was a cassette only release(circa 1975) on the late, great Gordon Beck’s short lived Jaguar label which mainly released Capital Radio session tapes at 1.50 a shot via mail order. I bought a great John Taylor sextet tape (with Wheeler, Sulzmann, Pyne, Laurence and Levin) but my subsequent order for Beck’s trio, Major Surgery and Gyroscope came back ‘no longer at this address’. Sad. Once saw Weller in the somewhat unlikely setting of playing in Alan Price’s band. Goes without saying he was fantastic.
Nice to see a mention of Annabel Lamb too. I saw her at Stroud Sub Rooms about 15 years ago at a thinly attended Kiki Dee gig and KD brought Annabel on as guest backing vocalist. ‘Once Bitten’ is indeed a decent album – she did a nice(and brave) cover of ‘Riders on the Storm’ too.
I saw Weller live at the Bull’s Head , Barnes Bridge , backed , if memory serves , by Ron Mathewson , Terry Smith a.o. Also attended two Gyroscope gigs , being impressed by Tony Levin’s propulsive force .
Lovely piece, but I think the start date of ’76 is wrong. In fact I saw them in spring ’75 when I came down for a Uni interview. A nice bunch of folk and a lovely evening – The White Hart in Drury Lane, as I recall.
On the strength of your review I purchased an original vinyl in excellent condition. All I can say is, once again thank you Richard for filling a gap in my collection. Despite an interest in British Jazz this group and this recording had passed me by. Very glad to have been able to correct that situation.