Music
Continuing Bra Hugh's legacy: how can we breathe new life into jazz?
With the inaugural Soweto International Jazz Festival starting this week, we asked one of our favourite writers, Tseliso Monaheng, to explore - in his own way - the relationship between jazz and the black South African experience
A few months before he transitioned, bra Hugh Masekela, the stately, legendary, rock-star hornsman who kept township jazz a-jive throughout the '90s - who waved the African flag high in Civil Rights-era America; who traversed genres, yet never lost the root of that kasi thing latter-day generations got to know him exclusively for; who, alongside mam' Miriam Makeba, bra Caiphus Semenya and his life-long partner, mam' Letta, et al., built upon the musical foundations laid by the Kwela and Mbube revues before them - held court with rapper swagg-straordinaire Riky Rick to chat intergenerational shandis, focusing on their respective eras' take on music and fashion.
"Usually when people talk about jazz, they just talk about the musicians," he said, referring to Louis Armstrong and his ilk. "But that first group of people [who] came out of New Orleans actually civilised the world. And out of that came all the genres. If it wasn't for them, you wouldn't be Mr Kotini," he exclaimed.
"I lived in New York, on Sugar Hill, up on 148th & Convent Ave. And of course there was [Afrika] Bambaataa, Melle Mel. I just loved the stuff they did," he said.
Despite his later objections to the artform, Bra Hugh was rapping on Techno-Bush, lest we forget.
WATCH | Hugh Masekela speaks about the first time he saw Riky Rick perform..
There’s never been a more important time to support independent media.
From World War 1 to present-day cosmopolitan South Africa and beyond, the Sunday Times has been a pillar in covering the stories that matter to you.
For just R80 you can become a premium member (digital access) and support a publication that has played an important political and social role in South Africa for over a century of Sundays. You can cancel anytime.
Already subscribed? Sign in below.
Questions or problems? Email helpdesk@timeslive.co.za or call 0860 52 52 00.