“When I hear the first bars of ‘Säd Afrika’ I could be back at Ronnie's, feeling the crackle of excitement which was generated by 21 people playing that enormous opening A flat major chord.” That's how Django Bates describes the opening to this joyous release of the band's last-ever live gigs. But the Tubes of course were always so much more than their individual writers, special as Bates, Parker, Batchelor and co. were. They really did add up to more than their (many) parts: they tapped a world vibe, township style – celebrating Celtic, gypsy, Afro-Brazilian musics – that for a heady while shook jazz from its ghetto. Bates' ‘Säd Afrika’ of course summons the spirits of the South African exiles – Pukwana, Lipere et al – that so graced the UK scene, while Steve Buckley's whistles takes us to a Gaelic world with ‘Mo Mhuirnin Ban’ that's as mythic as it is palpable. Each track is a stand out, be it Eddie Parker's unlikely titled ‘Exeter, King of Cities’, featuring a suitably swooping Bates solo or the trombone fest on a dizzying ‘Delightful Precipice.’ Each chord, indeed, is as enormous as that first which Bates remembers. And now we can breathe it in again, proving, as Bates puts it, that “music is very good at transporting one through time.” Welcome, time travellers all.

Jazzwise talks to Django Bates about the album

Säd Afrika is dedicated to Nelson Mandela: how much did the band feel part of a political movement?

It felt natural for us as performers to state where we stood on political issues. I was gratified when young Czech jazz guitarist David Doruzka asked me to thank Loose Tubes for helping to save the Jazz Section of the Czech Musicians' Union from being banned by the Communist government. We had a habit of turning up unannounced at embassies and playing in protest, as we did outside South Africa House in Trafalgar Square.

You also acknowledge Graham Collier who is so sadly missed.

I'm eternally grateful to Graham, and it is right that his contribution has been properly acknowledged.Whilst putting the artwork together for Säd Afrika I was pleased to notice Graham just visible on the back cover photo. He is looking at the band with an expression that may well be read as: “What on earth have I created?!”

Is it daft to look back – don't you lose your marbles that way?

The Loose Tubes at Ronnie's tapes are an exception because no other recordings are available. Also, when Loose Tubes were conspicuously left out of recent celebrations of British Jazz history, many of the band felt it was imperative to set the record straight. I think we've done that now.

So what's on your horizons?

Belovèd (Bird) will tour the UK in November to coincide with the release of a second album. I will start putting the third and final Ronnie's Loose Tubes album together soon; I already have a perfect title for it.

Are you in exile or at home?

I am both. Since 2011 I have been a professor of jazz at the University of Arts in Bern, Switzerland. I am there half the time, and back in London or touring, theother half. As long as I remember to take loose leaf tea from England I find this a very good arrangement.