Customer Reviews

Hope

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Whoever's responsible at Triloka for recording South African Flugelhorn master Hugh Masekela in this setting deserves highest praise. Talk about deep grooves . . . his U of SA band kicks butt up one side and down the other. Recording him live was a good move, too.

Even anachronistic numbers like "Mandela (Bring Him Back Home)," with its hopelessly sentimental lyrics celebrating Nelson Mandela walking the streets of Soweto with his soon-to-be divorced wife, Winnie, seem somehow right: the musical truth is larger than shopworn politics, no matter how just the cause.

Township jazz, performed at some kind of musical Nirvana, is the order of day here, and never has it sounded better. If you have even the slightest affinty for this transcendent music, this is your record.

This album of well known South African songs was recorded live at the Blues Alley in Washington with an array of great South African jazz musicians like Themba Mkize, Lawrence Matshiza and Bakithi Khumalo. Masekela is a master of the horn, his virtuosity brilliantly demonstrated on the brilliant tracks Stimela (Train), Grazin' In The Grass and Ntyilo Ntyilo. Other standout track tracks include Nomali, Marketplace, Fela Kuti's Lady and the Miriam Makeba composition Abangoma. The atmosphere is wonderful and the rhythms are superb. This warm, heartfelt music should appeal to all lovers of jazz and African crossover music. I wish I were there.

Hugh Masakela crosses over into pop and mixes South African music with pop and his usual jazz roots: this makes him much more accessible than the usual jazz trumpet work - and makes his latest cd HOPE shine.

As a long-time fan of Hugh Masekela, I have heard just about everything he has recorded. So keen is my attraction to his sound, that I can recognize a Hugh flugelhorn solo within 2 bars by his signature licks and playfulness. Of course, there have been albums that were not up to par for my spoilt ears, but I dismiss that with the acceptance that he is only human and entitled to moments of mediocrity, just surviving with his art....

Just as I had began to get the feeling that the old lungs were not powerful enough, the chops not as practised, and the gravelly voice tired, Hugh brought out Hope.

It was a stunning surprise!! It is arguably the best ever live recording from Hugh. It ought to be required reference material for any budding audio engineer seeking to capture a concert perfectly.
The dynamics are spot-on, from rumbling drum rolls to gunshot snares, as Hugh intersperses vocal play with horn solos accompanied by a very tight combo (Baghiti Kumalo on bass!). The playfulness is still there, in particular as Hugh plays the naughty old man in the "Marketplace", to the delight of what must have been an audience of insiders.

If you do not know Hugh Masekela, buy this CD. If you know him, do not leave it out of your collection. It spans tunes from the 60's days to the early 90's, performed in a timeless way (i.e. without sythesizers, drum machines and other studio clutter). The material also covers his topical range very well. Too bad I cannot give more than 5 stars. I might be forced to give 3 and 4 to other perfectly deserving work!

It's funky, it's passionate, it's African, it's jazz. Turn this up loud and listen, especially the last track "Stimela". Excellent recording of a wonderful live event.

I stumbled onto this album in a Tower store years ago. I've since listened to it many, many times. I agree that Hugh's not too esoteric here and the quality of the live recording is spectacular. This is a great first album for anyone wanting to sample Hugh Masakela.