How Louis Armstrong Passed his Trumpet to Hugh Masekela

[mjzee]

Marc Myers - WSJ

(This is a fabulous series of articles Myers is doing for WSJ; I hope they get compiled into a book.)

[soulpope]

Marc Myers - WSJ

(This is a fabulous series of articles Myers is doing for WSJ; I hope they get compiled into a book.)

He asked if I sang. I told him I didn't. He said in that gravelly voice, "If I can sing, annny-body can." ;-)

Edited May 15, 2014 by soulpope

[duaneiac]

The young Mr. Masekela's joyful reaction upon receiving this trumpet from his idol made for the wonderful photo used on the cover of his autobiography.

It's also a really good book. Mr. Masekela has had an eventful and fascinating life that makes for a very dramatic story -- a tale which includes the years of violence and apartheid in his homeland, years of segregation and discrimination in America, years of substance abuse, failed marriages to Miriam Makeba and Chris Calloway, and finally his much longed for return to a free South Africa.

[AllenLowe]

but can he play? I honestly have not heard a lot that has impressed me; on the other hand, he may just have found his audience and kept going for it.

[mjzee]

His one hit, Grazin' In The Grass, was a great single; sure made my summer that year.

[duaneiac]

He most definitely can play. Is he a great innovator or a profoundly influential musician? No.

I've seen him perform a few times and he is one of the most capable and comfortable jazz musicians when it comes to forming a rapport with the audience. He doesn't treat his audience as a necessary evil which must be endured or an unwashed mass which should consider itself fortunate to be granted an opportunity to be in the presence of his genius. He treats his audience as welcome guests, as friends even. Sure, there is a place for influential/pretentious asshole geniuses in jazz, but jazz also needs some people like Mr. Masekela.

Once, when I saw Mr. Masekela at a free concert in San Francisco, they announced that he would be signing autographs after the show. I got in line behind maybe 30 or 40 other people. It seemed like the line was going awfully slow. When I got near the front of the line, I found out why. Mr. Masekela greeted each person with a hug, signed however many items each one had brought, and then said good-bye to each person with another hug. Given some of the truly horrific abuse and violence that he had received and witnessed in his life, one could not have blamed him if he had become a very bitter and reclusive man. That he has had the strength of character to overcome the many obstacles life gave him, and that he has not surrendered to the darker aspects of human nature but instead has maintained an outlook of respect, love and understanding, is quite an accomplishment.

Sure, Lee Morgan, Freddie Hubbard and Chet Baker, to name a few, were outstanding trumpeters. Hugh Masekela is a good trumpeter and an outstanding human being. I like that combination.

[AllenLowe]

hmmmmm.....if goodness is the prime criteria we may have some disagreement; as for the idea that "there is a place for influential/pretentious asshole geniuses in jazz, but jazz also needs some people like Mr. Masekela," well, we are talking straw men. It's silly to hold up the popular front idea, I think; he can either play or he can't. Even Kenny G signs autographs.

[mikelz777]

I've always dug this but i couldn't find other releases that really rang my bell.

[duaneiac]

hmmmmm.....if goodness is the prime criteria we may have some disagreement; as for the idea that "there is a place for influential/pretentious asshole geniuses in jazz, but jazz also needs some people like Mr. Masekela," well, we are talking straw men. It's silly to hold up the popular front idea, I think; he can either play or he can't. Even Kenny G signs autographs.

As I said, he most definitely can play. Is he the most amazing and innovative trumpet/flugelhorn player you have ever heard in your life? No, he is not, nor, I would think, would he ever claim to be.

Goodness is not the prime criteria in liking a jazz musician, nor was I making a case that it was. However, goodness, in and of itself, in any individual in any occupation, isn't a bad thing to have. I have attended and enjoyed performances by Keith "SILENCE OR ELSE!!!!!!!!" Jarrett. I have attended and enjoyed performances by Hugh Masekela. There is room in jazz for both. Jazz needs the "jazz is America's classical music" crowd, determined to see that jazz is performed in plush concert halls before hushed, reverent crowds so that the music gets the level of respect they feel it so richly deserves. Jazz also needs the "jazz is music to shake, shake, shake yo' boo-taaaaaay" crowd who honor jazz's birth in bars and brothels and want to present jazz as a fun and funky music for people to actively, physically (not just intellectually) enjoy.

There is the old Charlie Parker quote, "Music is your own experience, your own thoughts, your wisdom. If you don't live it, it won't come out of your horn." Mr. Masekela has lived a life with many turbulent and traumatic experiences which by all rights should have crushed the heart, soul and human dignity of the man. By all appearances, he is instead a man at peace with himself today, able to face the world with grace and understanding and joy. To me, that comes though in his playing, but that may not be the case for every listener. Que sera, sera.

[Hardbopjazz]

I did attend the concert on April 4th at JALC. He played well. He had Paul Simon as a guest on two tunes.

[The Magnificent Goldberg]

'Home is where the music is' is a very, very nice album.

Also worthwhile is this

Waiting for the rain - Jive Afrika

It hasn't been reissued on CD, as far as I know. The trumpet playing is not amazing, but the track 'Coal train (stimela)' SPEAKS. Well, it always seemed to me that that's what's wanted in music.

MG

[l p]

from what i've gathered from the above posts, and wiki, he is not a jazz musician.

[The Magnificent Goldberg]

Yes, that sounds right to me. I don't reckon any South African 'jazzmen' are really jazzmen, if they're true to the spirit of the music and society that nurtured them - and Masekela certainly is.

But does the question of whether he's a jazz musician actually matter?

MG

[jeffcrom]

I like the Blue Thumb album mentioned above quite a bit, at least as much for the ensemble (Dudu Pukwana!) and the tunes as for Masekela's playing.

I have an anthology of South African jazz on the Music Club label - Freedom Blues. Masekela appears on three tracks. On two tracks (straight-ahead versions of standards) from a 1959 session led by pianist John Mehegan, Masekela is competent, but not impressive. The only musician who really has his own voice on these sides (including Mehegan) is Kippie Moeketsi on alto. Masekela is better a year later, on the Jazz Epistles' "Scullery Department." That's a nice track, with Moeketsi on board again, as well as Dollar Brand/Abdullah Ibrahim.

I'm not really into the kind of pop-jazz that most of his output seems to be, but I'll turn up "Grazin' In the Grass" when I hear it on the radio.

[duaneiac]

from what i've gathered from the above posts, and wiki, he is not a jazz musician.

I'm curious what led you to that conclusion.

[Spontooneous]

from what i've gathered from the above posts, and wiki, he is not a jazz musician.

But what have you gathered from listening to him?

[GA Russell]

Whenever I hear Grazin' in the Grass, I listen to the cowbell!

[kh1958]

I heard him live at the Caravan of Dreams in 1989. He had a band of African musicians, except for one keyboard player from Philadelphia--saxophone, guitar, bass guitar, two keyboard players, drums--they were electrifying, one of the best bands I've ever heard--I heard four sets and that wasn't enough. It was better than any of his recordings, including Home. A few years later, he played in Dallas, with a completely different group, and it was just a decent concert.

[Brownian Motion]

'Home is where the music is' is a very, very nice album.

Also worthwhile is this

Waiting for the rain - Jive Afrika

It hasn't been reissued on CD, as far as I know. The trumpet playing is not amazing, but the track 'Coal train (stimela)' SPEAKS. Well, it always seemed to me that that's what's wanted in music.

MG

Is that Pops' flugelhorn?

[The Magnificent Goldberg]

'Home is where the music is' is a very, very nice album.

Also worthwhile is this

Waiting for the rain - Jive Afrika

It hasn't been reissued on CD, as far as I know. The trumpet playing is not amazing, but the track 'Coal train (stimela)' SPEAKS. Well, it always seemed to me that that's what's wanted in music.

MG

Is that Pops' flugelhorn?

Well, perhaps not

MG

[medjuck]

Saw him with Vusi Mahlasela a couple of nights ago at UCSB. He talked, sang, and danced as much as he played but it was a great show that had everyone up dancing. Mahlasela explained that the ANC national anthem had been banned under Apartheid but that Johnny Clegg had written a song that had the anthem hidden in it.They introed the song with a brief, quiet version of the anthem and a group of white South Africans in the audience all stood up. I found it very moving.