Noir (10)

British progressive group. Touted as the 1st black progressive rock band, Noir born out from the implosion of Cat's Paw, group formed by African musicians based in UK. From Cat's Paw break-up also emerged two other "Afro-Rock" acts, Assagai and Osibisa. The Noir's line-up was formed by keyboardist/singer Tony Cole, the guitarist Gordon Hunte, the bassist Roy Williams and the drummer/singer Barry Ford. Ater some gigs during the summer of 1970 they recorded an album for Pye's underground label Dawn in September 1970. But the album was issued the next year (November 1971) when the band had not existed longer for a few months. Barry Ford became a known reggae drummer (Clancy, Kilburn & The High Roads, Merger) while Gordon Hunte became a mainstay of Gonzalez before joining Sade's band in the 80s.