Trumpeter Musician Hugh Masekela
Hugh Masekela was a world-renowned trumpeter musician and political leader who released over 40 albums.
Masekela trumpeter musical style was influenced by Miles Davis. Masekela performed at the Monterey Pop Festival alongside The Who. U2 front-man Bono said playing with Masekela was one of the highlights of his career.
Trumpeter African Musician Hugh Masekela 20 Years of Freedom
Hugh Masekela was born 75 years ago in
the town of Witbank, South Africa in 1939. Masekela began to hone his, now
signature, Afro-Jazz sound in the late 1950s. In 1960, at the age of 21, he left
South Africa to begin what would be 30 years in exile from the land of his
birth.
On
arrival in New York he enrolled at the Manhattan School of Music. This
coincided with a golden era of jazz music and the young Hugh Masekela immersed
himself in the New York jazz scene where nightly he watched greats like Miles
Davis, John Coltrane, Thelonious Monk, Charlie Mingus and Max Roach.
Under the
tutelage of Dizzy Gillespie and Louis Armstrong, Hugh was encouraged to develop
his own unique style, feeding off African rather than American influences – his
debut album, released in 1963, was entitled Trumpet Africaine.
In
1967 Hugh performed at the Monterey Pop Festival alongside Janis Joplin, Otis
Redding, Ravi Shankar, The Who and Jimi Hendrix. In 1968, his instrumental
single ‘Grazin’ in the Grass’ went to Number One on the American pop charts and
was a worldwide smash, elevating Hugh onto the international stage
In 1990
Hugh returned home, following the unbanning of the ANC and the release of
Nelson Mandela – an event anticipated in Hugh’s anti-apartheid anthem ‘Bring
Home Nelson Mandela’ (1986) which had been a rallying cry around the world.
In
June 2010 Masekela opened the FIFA Soccer World Cup Kick-Off Concert to a global
audience and performed at the event’s Opening Ceremony in Soweto’s Soccer City. The US Virgin Islands proclaimed ‘Hugh Masekela Day’ in March 2011, not long
after Hugh joined U2 on stage during the Johannesburg leg of their 360 World
Tour. U2 Bono described meeting and playing with Hugh as one of the
highlights of his career.
According
to his biography, Masekela is currently using his global reach to spread the
word about heritage restoration in Africa – a topic that remains very close to
his heart.
Masekela says “My biggest obsession is to show Africans and the
world who the people of Africa really are,” Masekela confides – and it’s this
commitment to his home continent that has propelled him forward since he first
began playing the trumpet.
February and March 2015, South African musical legends Hugh Masekela and Vusi Mahlesela embarked
on a North American musical tour, 20 Years of Freedom. The tour celebrated the 20th
anniversary of South Africa’s social equality and the end of apartheid.
Hugh Ramapolo Masekela.
Born
April 4, 1939 in Emalahleni, South Africa.
January 23, 2018 at age 78 in Johannesburg, South Africa.
Genres played
Jazz, Mbaqanga and Afropop.
Instruments played
Trumpet, flugel horn, trombone, cornet and singer.
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