Still Grazing - Album

Hugh Masekela
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http //en.Wikipedia.Org/wiki/Hugh_Masekela Hugh Ramopolo Masekela Born Witbank South Africa April 4 1939 Is A South African Trumpet Flugelhorn And Cornet Player. He Began Singing And Playing Piano As A Child. At Age 14 After Seeing The Film "Young Man With A Horn" Where Kirk Douglas Portrays American Jazz Trumpeter Bix Beiderbecke He Took Up Playing The Trumpet. His First Trumpet Was Given To Him By Archbishop Trevor Huddleston The Anti-Apartheid Chaplain At St. Peters Secondary School. After Huddleston Asked The Leader Of The Then Johannesburg "Native" Municipal Brass Band Uncle Sauda To Teach Hugh The Rudiments Of Trumpet Playing The Young Boy Quickly Proceeded To Master The Instrument. Soon Some Of Hugh's Music-Loving Schoolmates Also Became Interested In Playing Instruments Leading To The Formation Of The Huddleston Jazz Band South Africa's Very First Youth Orchestra. Hugh Went On To Play In Other Dance Bands Led By The Great Zakes Nkosi Ntemi Piliso Elijah Nkwanyana And Kippie Moeketsi. By 1956 Hugh Joined Alfred Herbert's African Jazz Revue. Following A Manhattan Brothers Tour Of South Africa In 1958 Hugh Wound Up In The Orchestra For The Musical King Kong Written By Todd Matshikiza. King Kong Was South Africa's First Blockbuster Theatrical Success Touring The Country For A Sold-Out Year With Miriam Makeba And The Manhattan Brothers' Nathan Mdledle In The Lead. The Musical Later Went To London's West End For Two Years. At The End Of 1959 Dollar Brand Later Known As Abdullah Ibrahim Kippie Moekesti Makhaya Ntshoko Johnny Gertze And Hugh Formed The Jazz Epistles The First African Jazz Group To Record An LP And Perform To Record-Breaking Audiences In Johannesburg And Cape Town Through Late 1959 To Early 1960. Following The March 21 1960 Sharpeville Massacre - Where 69 Peacefully Protesting Africans Were Shot Dead In Sharpeville And The South African Government Banned Gatherings Of Ten Or More People - And The Increased Brutality Of The Apartheid State Hugh Finally Left The Country. Hugh Was Helped By Trevor Huddleston And International Friends Like Yehudi Menuhin And John Dankworth Who Got Him Admitted Into London's Guildhall School Of Music. During That Period He Visited The United States Where He Was Befriended By Harry Belafonte. He Had Hits In The United States With The Pop Jazz Tunes "Up Up And Away" And The Number One Smash "Grazin' In The Grass". He Has Played Primarily In Jazz 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. 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 Mbaqanga Strains A Style He Has Continued To Use Since His Return To South Africa In The Early 1990s. In The 1980s He Toured With Paul Simon In Support Of Simon's Then Controversial But Highly Critically Acclaimed Album Graceland Which Featured Other South African Artists Such As Ladysmith Black Mambazo Miriam Makeba Ray Phiri And Other Elements Of The Band Kalahari Which Masekela Recorded With In The 1980s. He Also Collaborated In The Musical Development For The Broadway Play Sarafina! He Previously Recorded With The Band Kalahari. In 2003 He Was Featured In The Documentary Film Amandla! About How The Music Of South Africa Aided In The Struggle Against Apartheid. In 2004 He Released His Autobiography Grazin' In The Grass The Musical Journey Of Hugh Masekela Which Thoughtfully Details His Struggles Against Apartheid In His Homeland As Well As His Personal Struggles Against Alcohol Addiction From The Late 1970s Through To The 1990s A Period When He Migrated In His Personal Recording Career To Mbaqanga Jazz/funk And The Blending Of South African Sounds To An Adult Contemporary Sound Through Two Albums He Recorded With Herb Alpert And Notable Solo Recordings Techno-Bush Recorded In His Studio In Botswana Tomorrow Featuring The Anthem "Bring Him Back Home" Uptownship A Lush-Sounding Ode To American R&B Beatin' Aroun' De Bush Sixty Time And Most Recently "Revival". Essential Recordings Include "Bring Him Back Home" "Coal Train Stimela " "Ziph'nkomo" "Don't Go Lose It Baby" "Ha Le Se Li De Khanna The Dowry Song " "Bajabule Bonka" "Grazing In The Grass" "U-Dwi" "The Joke Of Life" His Song "Soweto Blues" Sung By His Former Wife Miriam Makeba Mourns The Carnage Of The Soweto Riots In 1976. Hugh Masekela Is The Father Of Sal Masekela Host Of American Channel E!'s Daily 10 Show Along With Debbie Matenopoulos. He Now Lives In Kentish Town In London United Kingdom Where He Performs In The Jazz Cafe From Time To Time. read less