A spectacular concert of South African music and dance at ROHM’s outdoor courtyard on Thursday night featured the legendary South African jazz trumpeter Hugh Masekela, a pioneer of American-influenced South African Jazz, with exciting performances by a newer generations of musicians.
Jazz giant Masekela is also a composer, singer and a defiant political voice. He was a member of the legendary group, the Jazz Epistles, a product of South Africa’s golden age of jazz. Exiled to the United States the 1960s, Masekela helped bring sounds of Africa to the West. During that period he studied in London and New York, releasing albums such as Trumpet Africaine (1963) and Grrr (1966). His smash hits in the West included Up, Up and Away (1967) and the number one album Grazing in the Grass (1968), which sold four million copies.
Masekela toured the world in the 1970s; and, in the 1980s, moved to Botswana where he worked with South African musicians on hit albums such as Techno-Bush (1984).
Returning to South Africa in the early 1990s, Masekela’s career continues unabated to the present day. His album Jabulani won a Grammy Award for Best World Music in 2013.
A highlight of the dance programme is pantsula, an amazingly energetic and virtuosic dance form that originated on the streets of the townships in South Africa. Star performers in the fantastic drumming, dancing and singing include Mahotella Queens, a women’s band from Johannesburg noted for superb vocal harmony, as well as for guitar-led mbaqanga (Zulu-influenced music) and fast-paced dancing.
The cast also features Mafikizolo the fabulous Afro-Pop singing duo with Theo Kgosinkwe and Nhlanhla Nciza. Mafikizolo has won numerous prestigious awards in all categories. Most notably, Mafikizolo has thrice won the South African Music Award for Group or Duo of the Year.
— Photo credit: Khalid Al Busaidi, ROHM
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