Musical News - Hugh Masekela

Hugh Masekela, the South African trumpeter who became famous in the U.S. in 1968 with his rendition of “Grazing in the Grass,” died on January 23, 2018 of prostate cancer. He was 78 years of age.

Masekela was born in South Africa on April 4, 1939. As a child, he sang and played piano. At 14, he took up the trumpet and eventually the cornet and flugelhorn. His music protested the South African government and its system of apartheid. He attributed some of his success to Miles Davis, who advised him to diversify his style of music in order to set himself apart.

He co-founded the Jazz Epistles, the first African jazz group to record an album. He ultimately collaborated with world renowned musicians such as Paul Simon, Herb Alpert, Ladysmith Black Mambazo, and Miriam Makeba, to whom he was married for a short period in the mid-1960s.

Masekela composed “Soweto Blues” in 1977 for Makeba, to commemorate the Soweto Uprising of 1976. He composed “Bring Him Back Home” in 1987 in honor of Nelson Mandela, to protest his continued imprisonment. The song became an unofficial anthem.

Masekela was instrumental in the musical development for the Broadway play, “Sarafina!” and recorded with the band Kalahari. He was featured in the documentary film “Amandla!: A Revolution in Four-Part Harmony” in 2003.

 

He founded the Botswana International School of Music in 1985. He was nominated for three Grammy Awards, including a nomination for “Grazing in the Grass.”

Masekela was known as the father of African jazz, but was also widely known as an activist and philanthropist. The world has lost an extraordinary musician and freedom fighter.

 

Hugh Ramapolo Masekela [04/04/1939 – 01/23/2018]

© 01/23/2018