South African jazz legend Hugh Masekela dies aged 78
South African jazz legend Hugh Masekela has died aged 78 after a
long battle with prostate cancer, his family said on Tuesday morning.
“After
a protracted and courageous battle with prostate cancer, he passed on
peacefully in Johannesburg, South Africa, surrounded by his family,”
read the statement from his family.
His fans and leaders including South African President Jacob Zuma expressed their condolences following the news of his death.
“Mr
Masekela was one of the pioneers of jazz music in South Africa whose
talent was recognised and honoured internationally over many years. He
kept the torch of freedom alive globally fighting apartheid through his
music and mobilising international support for the struggle for
liberation and raising awareness of the evils of apartheid,” President
Zuma said in a statement.
Last
October, Mr Masekela cancelled a scheduled performance at the Hugh
Masekela Heritage Festival in Rockville, Soweto, south of Johannesburg,
saying he wanted to focus fully in battling the disease and urged men to
go for regular cancer check-ups.
The
jazz maestro was diagnosed with prostate cancer in 2008. He is said to
have undergone several operations including an eye surgery in March 2016
after the cancer spread.
Trumpeter
Born
on April 4, 1939 in KwaGuqa township in the eastern Mpumalanga
province, Mr Masekela began singing and playing the piano at the tender
age.
Popularly known as Bra Hugh, the
multi-award winning singer and composer began playing the trumpet at
the age of 14 inspired by the 1950 Young Man with a Horn film.
His
first trumpet was given to him by Archbishop Trevor Huddleston, an
anti-apartheid chaplain at St Peter's Secondary School where he was
schooling.
Masekela quickly rose to fame with a unique Afro-Jazz sound and hits such as Soweto Blues which became an anti- apartheid anthem in 1976.
Masekela's
musical work was largely inspired by the turmoil that South Africa went
through during apartheid. His music, he said, was used as a weapon to
spread political change.
Hugh Masekela married musician Miriam Makeba in 1964, but later divorced in 1966.
He
is survived by his wife, Elinam Cofie, whom he married in 1999, his
daughter Pula Twala, and his son, Selema ‘Sal’ Masekela, from his
relationship with Haitian Jessie Marie Lapierre.
In 2004, Masekela published his autobiography, Still Grazing: The Musical Journey of Hugh Masekela (co-authored with D. Michael Cheers), which Vanity Fair, a US magazine said "…you’ll be in awe of the many lives packed into one."
Mr
Masekela received several accolades throughout his life, among them the
Order of Ikhamanga – South African National Orders Ceremony (2010); an
honorary Doctorate in Music from the University of York (2014); a Doctor
of Music (honoris causa) from Rhodes University (2015); and the African
Music Legend Award - Ghana Music Awards (2007).
Minister of Arts
and Culture Nathi Mthethwa says the nation has lost a one-of-a-kind
musician with the passing of Jazz legend bra Hugh Masekela.
Masekela has died at the age of 78, after a battle with prostate cancer.
"A baobab tree has
fallen. We can safely say bra Hugh was one of the great architects of
Afro-Jazz and he uplifted the soul of our nation through his timeless
music," said the Minister in a Tweet on his official Twitter handle.
The world-renowned
flugelhornist, trumpeter, bandleader, composer, singer and defiant
political voice was born in Witbank, in 1939.
At the age of 14,
the deeply respected advocator of equal rights in South Africa, Father
Trevor Huddleston, provided Masekela with a trumpet and soon after the
Huddleston Jazz Band was formed.
According to his
website, Masekela began to hone his, now signature, Afro-Jazz sound in
the late 1950s during a period of intense creative collaboration, most
notably performing in the 1959 musical King Kong, written by Todd
Matshikiza, and, soon thereafter, as a member of the now legendary South
African group, the Jazz Epistles.
In 1960, at the age of 21 he left South Africa to begin what would be 30 years in exile.
On arrival in New
York he enrolled at the Manhattan School of Music. This coincided with a
golden era of jazz music and the young Masekela immersed himself in the
New York jazz scene where nightly he watched greats like Miles Davis,
John Coltrane, Thelonious Monk, Charlie Mingus and Max Roach.
Under the tutelage
of Dizzy Gillespie and Louis Armstrong, Hugh was encouraged to develop
his own unique style, feeding off African rather than American
influences - his debut album, released in 1963, was entitled Trumpet
Africaine.
In the late 1960s,
Masekela moved to Los Angeles, where he was befriended by hippie icons
like David Crosby, Peter Fonda and Dennis Hopper.
His subsequent solo
career has spanned five decades, during which time he has released over
40 albums and has been featured on countless more, and has worked with
such diverse artists as Harry Belafonte, Dizzy Gillespie, The Byrds,
Fela Kuti, Marvin Gaye, Herb Alpert, Paul Simon, Stevie Wonder and the
late Miriam Makeba.
In 1990, Hugh returned home, following the unbanning of the ANC and the release of the former President Nelson Mandela.
In June 2010, he
opened the FIFA Soccer World Cup Kick-Off Concert to a global audience
and performed at the event's opening ceremony in Soweto's Soccer City.
In the same year, President Jacob Zuma honoured him with the highest
order in South Africa, the Order of Ikhamanga.
Masekela is a Grammy award winner for "Best Contemporary Pop Performance-Instrumental".
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