The Brotherhood of Breath was a big-band created by Chris McGregor at the end of the 1960s, essentially an extension of McGregor's previous band The Blue Notes. This group included many members of the South African expatriate community resident in London, including McGregor himself, Louis Moholo, Harry Miller, Mongezi Feza, Dudu Pukwana, (occasionally) Johnny Dyani and many of the free jazz musicians who were based in London at the same time: Lol Coxhill, Evan Parker, Paul Rutherford, Harry Beckett, Marc Charig, Alan Skidmore, Mike Osborne, Elton Dean, Nick Evans, Annie Whitehead and John Surman. The personnel was interchangeable, depending on who was available. The music resembles a mixture of Charles Mingus and Sun Ra, but retains a unique feel due to the South African influences and the intelligent arrangements.

The original Brotherhood Of Breath ended in the late 70's, with the untimely deaths of Mongezi Feza and Harry Miller (whose label, Ogun Records, released some of the Brotherhood's albums.) McGregor formed a second version of the group in France in the late 80's, with such records as Country Cooking (1987) and En Concert A Banlieues Bleues (1988, with Archie Shepp). In this incarnation the music was more tightly arranged and controlled, with less 'free' improvisation.

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