Favorite
South African flugelhorn, trumpet and cornet player (4 April 1939 - 23 January 2018). In 1961, as part of the anti-apartheid campaign, he was exiled to the United States where he was befriended by Harry Belafonte. Primarily, he played in jazz ensembles, with guest appearances on albums by The Byrds, and Paul Simon. Masekela was a former collaborator of Abdullah Ibrahim. He is reported to have been initially inspired in his musical growth by Trevor Huddleston, a British priest working in the South African townships who financed Masekela's first trumpet. Masekela played his way through the Sophiatown scene with The Jazz Epistles and to Britain with King Kong, to find himself in New York in the early-1960s. He had hits in the United States with the pop-jazz tunes Up, Up And Away and the number one hit Grazing In The Grass. In 1987, his single Bring Him Back Home became an anthem for the movement to free Nelson Mandela. After apartheid ended, Masekela returned to South Africa. A renewed interest in his African roots led him to collaborate with West and Central African musicians, and finally to reconnect with South African players when he set up a mobile studio in Botswana, just over the South African border, in the 1980s. Here he re-absorbed and re-used mbaqanga strains, a style he has continued to use since his return to South Africa in the early-1990s.
Born: 4th April 1939, in Witbank, Mpumalanga, South Africa.
Died: 23rd January 2018, in Johannesburg, Gauteng, South Africa [from prostate cancer, aged 78].
2024
SAMP Records
2xLP, Album, RM
2021
2020
World Circuit
CDr, Single, Promo
2020
2018
Permanent Record
7", Single
2018
2017
Retroworld
3xCD, Comp
2017
Sony Music, Legacy
Box, Comp + CD, Album, RE + CD, Album, RE + CD, Al
2016
Universal Music South Africa
CD, Album
2015
Sony Music
CD, Comp
2013
Verve Records, Universal Music Group
CD, Comp, RM
2013
House Of Masekela
CD, Album
2012
House Of Masekela
4xCD, Album
2012
House Of Masekela
2xCD, Album
2012
2011
Gallo
CD, Album + DVD-V
2011
Ear Theatre Records
CD, Album
2011
2011
2010
Verve Records
2xCD, Comp
2008
2007
Sony BMG Music Entertainment
CD, Comp
2007
Universal Music
2xCD, Comp
2006
Icon Records (8), Sheer Sound
DVD-V
2006
HEITA! Records
CD, Album + DVD-V, Album
2006
2006
2005
Verve Records
12", Promo
2005
Vega Records
12"
2005
2005
2004
2003
2003
2002
2002
2001
2001
2000
Shanachie
DVD-V
2000
1999
1999
1997
1996
1996
1995
Anansi Records
CD, Comp
1995
More Music (8)
CD, Comp
1995
1994
1994
1992
1990
BBC Transcription Services
3xLP, Transcription
1989
1989
1988
American Pie
7", Single
1988
1988
1988
1987
WEA
Cass
1987
1987
1987
1987
1986
Verve Records
LP, Album, RE
1986
1985
BBC Transcription Services
LP, Transcription
1985
1985
1985
1984
Arista
LP, Comp, Promo, Smplr
1984
1984
1984
1984
1984
1983
Tsafrika Records
LP, Album
1983
Moonshine Afrika
LP, Comp
1983
Vuka Afrika
12", Maxi
1983
1982
MCA Records
LP, Comp, M/Print
1982
Moonshine (4)
7"
1982
Gallo Record Company
LP, Album
1982
1980
MCA Records
LP, Album
1980
1980
1978
A&M Records
7", Promo
1978
Motown
LP, Comp
1978
1978
1978
1977
Upfront Records (3)
LP
1977
Casablanca, Microfon Argentina S.A.
7", Single, Promo
1977
1977
1976
1976
1976
1976
1976
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