Pukwana and Moyake became band mates in The Blue Notes with Chris McGregor, Mongezi Feza, Johnny Dyani, and Louis Moholo.
Chris McGregor and Nikele Moyake met at the Castle Lager Jazz Festival hosted at Moroka Jabavu Stadium in 1962.
After The Blue Notes went on a successful national tour, the band left South Africa in 1963 heading to Antibes to start their lives in exile.
[2] The band left Antibes and moved to Zurich at the urging of Dollar Brand the artist currently known as Abdullah Ibrahim .
When the group emigrated to Europe en masse in 1964, he became isolated from the rest of the band through a combination of illness and homesickness.