Hugh Masekela

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Hugh Masekela (born Johannesburg, April 4, 1939) is a South African flugelhorn and cornet player. In 1961, as part of the anti-apartheid campaign, he was exiled to the United States where he was befriended by Harry Belafonte. He has played primarily in ensembles, with guest appearances on albums by The Byrds and Paul Simon. In 1987, he had a hit single with “Bring Him Back Home” which became an anthem for the movement to free Nelson Mandela. After apartheid ended, Masekela returned to South Africa where he now lives.

Hugh Masekela was an old collaborator of Abdullah Ibrahim. He is reported to have been initially inspired in his musical growth by Trevor Huddleston, a British priest working in the South African townships who financed Masekela’s first trumpet. Masekela played his way through the vibrant Sophiatown scene with The Jazz Epistles and to Britain with King Kong, to find himself in New York in the early 1960s. He had hits in the United States with the tunes “Up, Up and Away” and the number one smash “Grazin’ in the Grass”.

A renewed interest in his African roots led him to collaborate with West and Central African musicians, and finally to reconnect with South African players when he set up a mobile studio in Botswana, just over the South African border, in the 1980s. Here he re-absorbed and re-used strains, a style he has continued to use since his return to South Africa in the early 1990s.
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  • mattcunn

    am boy am doin it

    January 2012

  • DoctorMoog42

    This guy right here.

    December 2011

  • jakobdorof

    and "grazing in the grass" is just perfect.

    November 2011

  • jakobdorof

    the record with Hedzoleh Soundz is the best LP from africa i've heard yet!

    November 2011

  • Targetlive

    The Awesome Hugh Masekela Plays late on Saturday Night at Bridlington's Musicport Festival, which runs from the 4th-6th of November. More info here: http://www.musicportfestival.com/festival-info/2011.html Musicport was established in 2000 to promote live music and music education in Whitby and the surrounding area with its primary event being Musicport World Music Festival each autumn. Over the last eight years the festival has grown year on year and has established itself as a prestigious event in the festival calendar attracting major names such as Rachid Taha, The Buena Vista Social Club presents Cachaito Lopez etc, Toumani Diabate, Levellers,Misty In Roots, Courtney Pine, Talvin Singh, Richard Hawley, Chumbawamba, Altan, Rolf Harris, Mory Kante, Osibisa, Kate & Anna McGarrigle, & Los De Abajo.

    September 2011

  • Antinomie__

    Sunny music :D

    August 2011

  • trishbell

    The coolest summer memories of this..laying in my bikini at a local lake and getting that summer tan!

    February 2011

  • Juzzy94

    great artist. african jazz...

    February 2011
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