Masekela's horn of plenty

WHEN he was 14 years old, Hugh Masekela watched a film that changed the course of his life.

The movie was Young Man with the Horn, inspired by American jazz cornetist Bix Beiderbecke. It was the start of a lifelong love affair between Masekela and the trumpet.

Masekela's prowess as a trumpeter, his dialogue with the instrument and his possession of its sounds, is the stuff of legend.

But when we meet in Rosebank, Johannesburg at the launch of his new album Playing @ Work, he says it was music that chose him.

"I was crazy about music. Or, let me say, music was crazy about me. Music invaded me as a child. I might have come out of my mother's womb dancing or singing. That's how much music possessed me," he says.

At 73 and on his 43rd album, his enthusiasm and passion for music still bubbles over. It cannot be contained .

He's currently working on a few projects with musicians from as far afield as Trinidad, Cuba and Brazil and with musicians from Vosloorus. Also in the pipeline is a 19-track compilation of songs Masekela recorded with Miriam Makeba, Caiphus Semenya and Letta Mbulu in 1965.

With his current album Playing @ Work, a double-disc journey that includes the track Soweto Blues, a song he wrote and which was made famous by Makeba, Masekela says he tried to raise the bar. He doesn't take the craft for granted.

"You don't want to be with people who are into mediocrity. I don't want to be mired in any mediocrity that's going around."

Masekela's musical, Songs of Migration, is a tribute to the African migrants through song. It stars iconic singer Sibongile Khumalo, who says about Masekela: "In his growing years, he has managed to find an equilibrium which enables him to stay calm."

He may be calm, but Masekela refuses to sit on a porch and reminisce about his past, walking stick in hand and pipe in mouth.

Here is a man who has played all corners of the earth, been the subject of documentaries and books, and created a musical.

Yet he still feels there is much more to be done.

"I wish I was your age because then maybe I'd cover a tenth of the territory I'm supposed to cover. We have to leave something other than FNB stadium. To be part of leaving a rich heritage is my biggest obsession now."

• Masekela will play two shows as part of his Township Tour, on December 9 in Alexandra and December 16 in Rockville. His latest album is available at music stores nationwide