Track Listing

1. Send Me
2. Happy Mama
3. Conchita
4. Ce Soir
5. Mamoshaba
6. Magic
7. Thimlela
8. Saduva
9. Part of a Whole
10. Change
11. Old People, Old Folks

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #151374 in Music
• Released on: 2002-11-05
• Number of discs: 1

Amazon.com
Hugh Masekela has of late combined various styles of African music with funk, gospel, Latin and jazz into glossy, modern world pop. Masekela's first album of new material in three years, sticks with this fusion. As with other recent efforts, there are several vocal tracks, and while the South African chorus sounds great, Masekela's own raspy, somewhat tuneless lead vocals aren't quite so potent. Masekela's lyrics are forthright, although politics are now more personal than when he railed against apartheid. The highlight is still Masekela's trumpet and flugelhorn playing, which is supported by a fantastic brass section and rhythm players who're versed in smooth-jazz grooves and Latin rhythms. --Tad Hendrickson

Customer Reviews

Another good CD
As per usual, Masekela has released a CD of good, enjoyable music. His horn playing is great, and is backed by a fabulous horn section and a great chorus. Throughout the CD he pays tribute to other South African greats such as Elijah Nkwanyana, Caiphus Semenya, and Dudu Pukwana, along with others. Additionally, there are a couple stand-out tracks such as Send Me, Thimlela, and Saduva.

However, the CD has a couple major issues that prevent me from giving it 5 stars. One is Hugh's voice, which through years of smoking, drugs, etc has become toneless and raspy...and not in a unique, Tom Waits-y sort of way. It's just deteroirated; this is slightly problematic due to the large number of vocal tracks on the CD. Additionally, the opening 3 seconds of Ce Soir is agonizingly out of tune - this may have been a deliberate move, but it just grates on my ears every time I hear it (the rest of the track is quite lovely).

However, the major problem I have with the CD is exactly what I described in the first paragraph - another enjoyable Masekela CD. Of late, he hasn't stretched out in any new directions, and certainly hasn't taken any risks. This could be seen as just whining on my part, as this CD is quite good and worth owning, but part of me wishes for a riskier album, the way Grrr, That Boyz Doin It, and The Union of South Africa were. The groove that Masekela's hit just isn't where I would have hoped he'd arrive.

That said, buy this CD. It's a good CD...just not a great one.

Transcendent Township
You can hear centuries of struggle being neutralized in the joyous celebration of dance overcoming oppression in Hugh Masekela's remarkable music. Here is a man who never wavered in his outspoken condemnation of Apartheid, even though for many years it was dangerous for him to do so. Here is a man who has experienced living and laboring under the most difficult personal and musical circumstances who nevertheless operates in the most rarified precincts of felicity. Here is a man who has know international fame as well periods of great difficulty and who has now emerged as a kind of elder statesman for that most glorious of musics, Township pop/jazz.

When I, a white America, listen to this transcendent music, I am transported to the heart of black South Africa, a place where the depredations of colonialism still manifest deep scars both personal and societal, but also a place where exuberance trumps oppression, hope wins out over despair, and the indomitability of the human spirit shines forth perhaps more purely than anywhere else in the entire world.

Paying homage to past masters like Elijah Nkwanyane, Dudu Pukwana, and Miriam Makeba, this whole project is suffused with the pure magic that comes from one who is firmly connected to the past yet is entirely in touch with the present. Though he must be in his seventies, Masekela has lost none of his prowess on flugelhorn, his chosen instrument. He sings with a great deal of authority as well, his voice somewhat gruff and gravelly, but entirely appropriate for the sentiments he wishes to convey. Top it all off with infectious arrangements and a supremely swinging brass section and you have music to die for. Not to be missed.

Lots of character
I happened upon this album..the more i listen the more i like it. The raspy voice is memorable along the his excellent horn. Good compositions, interesting topics, solid rhythyms....a hidden gem in the jazz world..