Hugh Masekela

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Hugh Masekela’s musical journey began as a township teenager on a trumpet donated by none other than Louis Armstrong. Though Masekela was born in a country with thousands of years of musical tradition, there were few options for young black musicians. He left the clutches of apartheid and landed in the booming jazz scene of New York in the 1960’s, but South Africa remained in his heart and in his horn.

Masekela found famous friends like Harry Belafonte and Dizzy Gillepsie, and took a ride on the familiar arc of quick fame, hard-living, decadence, and redemption. While rising and falling, Masekela retained the rhythm and resistance of a boy from a South African coal town. Still Grazin': The Musical Journey of Hugh Masekela.

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Hugh Masekela