The Official Site
Reviews of Live Shows
The Queen led a royal delegation in observance of Commonwealth Day in London’s Westminster Abbey on Monday, featuring performances by musicians including Canadian Rufus Wainwright and South Africa’s Hugh Masekela.
The audience swayed between listening in awed silence to singing, dancing and clapping, as Mr Masekela – considered one of jazz’s greatest horn players – filled the hall with his warm and energetic playing.
“Oh that was beautiful. Beautiful!” Masekela said in his distinctive deep, raspy voice, following a particularly earnest attempt by the audience. “Are you sure you’re not from Soweto?”
As South African vocalist and multi-instrumentalist Hugh Masekela danced in time to cue his band’s next song Saturday night, he addressed an audience of both students and senior citizens at a packed Pick-Staiger Concert Hall.
“He’s one of the artists that brought South African music to the mainstream so all of us could get to know it that way,” Coles said. “It’s been great to get to see him.”
There are moments when all the ways we like to consider ourselves here in LA — multi-cultural, multi-ethnic, multi-generational, the whole big melting pot simmering under a golden sun – get reflected in something bigger and make us think, “Hey, maybe that really IS us.”
The variety was impressive, with the burly Vusi Mahlasela switching from acrobatic and soulful improvisation, backed by solo guitar, to a stomping treatment of the dance hit Pata Pata.
Once Hugh Masekela and his ensemble are in the groove, it’s a musical ride like no other.
… opener Hugh Masekela, has built a long career out of melding jazz with sounds from his native South Africa along with touches of pop and funk …
Africa Review By Billie Odidi Born out of South Africa’s apartheid system, Hugh Masekela was an early entrant into the world of trumpets and drumbeats; benefiting immensely from some of the best musical experiences of the world. His first trumpet was a gift from Louis Armstrong; Harry Belafonte facilitated his flight to New York where … Read more
