Founded by saxophonist James Plunky Branch, Oneness of Juju was born from the creative jazz group Juju in San Francisco in 1971. The band moved to New York and issued two albums for Strata East during the early '70s, Message from Mozambique and Chapter Two: Nia. In late 1974, they relocated to Virginia and chose the name Oneness of Juju to reflect their more populist R&B and jazz-funk elements. Their two often-reissued Black Fire recordings, 1975's African Rhythms and 1976's Space Jungle Luv, are widely considered classics. The band changed its name again to Plunky & Oneness of Juju and released Make a Change in 1977, and X Marks the Spot (in Germany) in 1996. In 2006, a final incarnation of the band issued Live in Paris. In 2020, Now-Again re-released Chapter Two: Nia, and a year later the U.K. label Strut re-released Make a Change.