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Harare Bureau
ONE of South Africa’s greatest trumpeters Hugh Masekela is expected to grace Oliver Mtukudzi’s tribute dinner scheduled for 26 September at the Rainbow Towers organised by FBC Bank.Priscilla Sadomba, head of group marketing for FBC Holdings, said Masekela will appear at the event as a special guest.
“Masekela who is a South African music icon will be attending the dinner and he is going to honour Mtukudzi who is our very own legend,” she said.
Tuku’s manager Sam Mataure, said a number of Zimbabwean musicians will take part at a gig being jointly organised by Harare Jazz Festival and the National Arts Council of Zimbabwe.
“We are so excited that the gig that’s coming on September 27 is going to feature several artistes both young and old on one stage. We have the likes of BaShupi, Munya Mataruse, Ten Diamond, Prayer Soul, Cynthia Mare and Junior Brown,” he said.
All the musicians will be backed by an all-star band comprising Clive Mukundu on guitar, Enock Piroro on bass, Jairos Hambahamba on keyboards, Strover Maswobe and Othenell Moyo on percussion, Alice Muringayi, Fiona Gwena as well as Tino Bimha on backing vocals.
However, the presence of Masekela at the tribute dinner and concert will be most welcome. According to Horizon Jazz Magazine, “Masekela’s music has bridged the struggle for liberation with the sweet songs of tomorrow. Bring it back home.
“It was a long way from the 1940s, in the small town of Witbank, where Hugh Ramopolo Masekela sang and played the piano to small audiences. His inspiration came from the movie Young Man With a Horn.
“He knew he wanted to blow the trumpet. In 1954, at the age of 14, anti-apartheid activist Archbishop Trevor Huddleston gave Masekela his first trumpet, which saw the beginning of a man who was to become known worldwide as Bra Hugh.
“Young and inspired by his township roots, the young boy blossomed under the tutorship of the leader of the Johannesburg Native Municipal Brass Band, Uncle Sauda, who taught him the basics of the trumpet.
“This led to the formation of the Huddleston Jazz Band, South Africa’s first youth orchestra. Soon, he was playing in other bands, finally joining the African Jazz Revue in 1956. Two years later, he joined the Manhattan Brothers on their national tour and played in South Africa’s first theatrical success, King Kong, which went to London’s West End for two years.”
The young man’s star was rising. In 1959 Bra Hugh joined several groups including Jazz Epistles. This was the first African group to record an LP and perform to record-breaking audiences in Johannesburg and Cape Town through late 1959 to early 1960.
A book on his life story called Still Grazing: The Musical Journey of Hugh Masekela was also published.
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