Masekela: A person is a sometime thing

[matt j]

https://www.theguardian.com/music/20...ekela-obituary

What a life. RIP.

(I honestly can't think of anything else to say. I'm just digging through tracks I already have and adding more back catalog to the wishlist at the moment.)

[G-Man]

His death comes just as there is a revival of the 1950s musical King Kong in South Africa (which I saw a couple of weeks ago). Masekela first cut his teeth in the all-black musical (or jazz-opera, as it has been described), which also made a star of Miriam Makeba.

[Satchmo Distel]

Miriam's music with the Skylarks is some of the most life-affirming music I know but I have never (to my shame) found the time to investigate Masekela. Where should I start?

[matt j]

It's a tough one, and G-man is probably in a better place to recommend (physically and historically).

From my experience, I'd think it would be hard to go wrong with some of the 60s recordings. The Boy's Doin' It, for instance, was recorded in Lagos when Masekela was visiting Fela Kuti. I've not heard it all the way through in some time, but it has the song referenced in my thread title which is possibly in my top ten songs of all time (in any genre).

I'm also very partial to the ' Hope' album, and the song Uptownship. But the obvious recommendation of Bring Him Back Home is there too.

Stimela is also a good shout.

Hmm, I've got some listening to do today.

[matt j]

This live performance of Stimela from just a few years ago:
https://youtu.be/qIyWkGWNCHw

[G-Man]

Yeah, start with the 1960s canon. Grrr is a good one to see the fusion of South African music and western jazz. The Emancipation of Hugh Masekela is also good one, especially when Masekela sings as well; I love his voice.

The album he did with Herb Alpert in the 1970s is worth checking out.

I don't know his '90s albums, only a few tracks, like "Mama", which was a hit in SA. The last Masekela album I bought was Jabulani in 2012, which was very good, though not a breakthrough in great innovations.

The cover of The Emancipation... was fantastic, with Hugh looking cool, wearing an apartheid flag and Voortrekker beard to taunt the enemy.

[Satchmo Distel]

[Satchmo Distel]

This sounds great: