{"id":97293,"date":"2022-01-23T09:00:00","date_gmt":"2022-01-23T08:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pan-african-music.com\/?p=97293"},"modified":"2022-01-21T19:18:15","modified_gmt":"2022-01-21T18:18:15","slug":"south-africans-remember-hugh-masekela","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/pan-african-music.com\/en\/south-africans-remember-hugh-masekela\/","title":{"rendered":"South African artists remember Hugh Masekela"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

PAM celebrates the 4th anniversary of the musician\u2019s passing by chatting with a young generation of South African artists about his legacy.<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

It is safe to say that Hugh Masekela<\/a> is now a music legend. Born in 1939 in Emalahleni, in a racialist country known at the time as the \u201cUnion of South Africa\u201d, the man fell in love with trumpet and found inspiration as much in the agony and oppression of apartheid as in light romance and township life. His role in militant music alongside Abdullah Ibrahim<\/a>, Jonas Gwangwa and Miriam Makeba<\/a>, his collaborations with top American musicians such as Monk Montgomery and Paul Simon and his pan-Africanists incursions in Lagos with Fela Kuti<\/a> or in Kinshasa with Stewart Levine all contribute to his legendary status, that keeps on inspiring a young generation of African artists. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

This Sunday at 8pm on Skyroom<\/a>, the Hugh Masekela Heritage Festival celebrates the trumpetist\u2019s legacy with performances by Msaki<\/a>, Langa Mavuso, Mandisi Dyantyis, Berita, Muneyi, Gcina Mhlophe and Tsogang Bana Dance Group. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

PAM chatted with Mandisi Dyantyis, Berita and Langa Mavuso about Bra Hugh\u2019s everlasting influence in their music. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Mandisi Dyantyis<\/strong><\/h5>\n\n\n\n

Born and raised in Port Elizabeth, Mandisi is a trumpet player. A musician, composer, arranger and producer, his music is rooted in jazz, western classical and African indigenous genres. <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

I can\u2019t remember my first encounter with Bra Hugh\u2019s music, but I remember the first performance of his that I watched. I must have been 11 or 12, my mother gave me 100 rands to go and watch the gig. It started very late. For the two hours that he played, he had an audience of people who could\u2019ve been so angry at him for being late. But because it was him, the moment he started performing, they were like \u201cokay, it was worth the wait<\/em>\u201d. I remember how his band was so rehearsed, but even with this great band, you just wanted to watch him. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The moment I could afford a CD player, one of the first CDs I bought was his album, and that was the first time I sat and listened to his music. I had avoided it from a young age, because as I started playing the trumpet, I knew at some point I was going to be compared. I wanted his influence to be as natural as possible, not to be seen as a person who copied him. You can\u2019t, as a South African live music performer, run away from his influence. I remember when Hugh passed on, people wanted me to do tributes, and I said no. <\/em>You\u2019re asking me to do a tribute because you think I\u2019m going to emulate him. And Bra Hugh would not want someone to emulate him. He would want someone to come in with his own vibe. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

He was a book, he was a map. A map of authenticity, of identity. Bra Hugh, playing in a fancy club in America, would be the same Bra Hugh you would see in Moretele Park, or in Cape Town Jazz Fest. He never changed, and he carried South Africa and who he was until his last days. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cMarket Place\u201d would be my favourite song from him. It is about storytelling, he tells the story of the girl he meets in the market place so well. [laughs] You are there, you are in that village, he walks with you. It\u2019s so beautiful. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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