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Hugh Masekela - RIP

Hugh Masekela was a mighty symbol of liberation and struggle, celebrated for his thrilling live performances and great spirit.  He has sadly lost his courageous battle with cancer but the power of his music will last lifetimes

He was warm and generous in his enthusiasm and humour, and Serious was lucky enough to work with him in Britain and beyond for nearly 25 years, starting with the celebratory Tour of Hope, co-starring Hugh Masekela and Miriam Makeba, which played 44 cities and festivals across Europe.  

Serious as it exists now was drawn together by Hugh and the power of his music.    When she was a director of africa95, Claire Whitaker commissioned us to produce africa95’s opening concert featuring Hugh Masekela playing with Afro-Bloc - the first of many collaborations with British musicians that we were proud to produce.   By the end of africa95, Claire had joined Serious, and Hugh’s epic concert in 1996 was also our first New Audiences event, drawing young people and African communities from Deptford to the Royal Festival Hall.

We brought together Hugh Masekela, Jazz Jamaica All Stars and a 150-strong East End choir to play at the Barbican in 2004 – this collaboration toured Britain and played the North Sea Jazz Festival.   It marked the start of his work with Jason Yarde, who wrote All Souls Seek Joy, a trumpet concerto for Hugh played several times by Hugh and the London Symphony Orchestra.   Hugh was always passionate about the work of younger musicians – perhaps it had something to do with Bishop Trevor Huddleston encouraging him as a musician by giving him his first horn – and he was a founder patron of The Serious Trust, which supports our learning work.

After all the storms in his life, Hugh had a long golden period when he played the great festivals, sometimes with his own band, sometimes more informally with pianist Larry Willis telling stories of their time together at Manhattan School of Music.  He played a stunning set to 20,000 people as part of BT River of Music in the run-up to the Olympics, with a choir drawn from all the countries of Southern Africa, and re-worked Graceland with Paul Simon.  

Hugh always loved jazz – his favourite album of all was Clifford Brown With Strings – and he was delighted to play a run of four shows at Ronnie Scotts in 2016, on what turned out to be his last visit to London.   He never lost his spirit of adventure – meeting British trumpeter Yazz Ahmed, during that visit, at a Serious Trust event which featured artists from the Take Five talent development programme, he was so taken with her instrument and playing that the next day, she carried him off to Eclipse Trumpets in Luton, where he bought a new horn on the spot.

He hoped to play one last London concert in the 25th EFG London Jazz Festival last November in a celebration of the Jazz Epistles with Abdullah Ibrahim – sadly, that wasn’t to be, and instead Abdullah saluted on stage both Hugh and their shared history.   We are still coming to terms with the death of this great man, but all of us at Serious plan to celebrate Hugh in the way he would most want – by creating new opportunities for African artists inside our festivals.

Read Robin Denselow’s full obituary: https://www.theguardian.com/music/2018/jan/23/hugh-masekela-obituary

Ladysmith Black Mambazo wanted to mark the passing of Hugh Masekela, who first worked with them 30 years ago, and they sent us this message:

Bra Hugh...when we received the call that Paul Simon wanted us to join his Graceland concert tour, in 1986, we left South Africa not knowing what to expect as we began our first such journey away from home. We were scared, we were nervous, but most importantly we were concerned about how to represent our country, which was going through terrible turmoil. When we landed in London, on our first trip for Graceland, we met you for the first time and you quickly became the light for our journey. You were a giant musician but more importantly a giant of a man. It's been over thirty years since our first journey together and the many moments, then and since, that we shared are not only a part of the bedrock of who Ladysmith Black Mambazo is as musicians but, more importantly, who we are as ambassadors for South Africa. You always showed us the way. For thirty years we always looked to you for guidance. "Hey fellas...Grrrreee" is how you would greet us, honoring us with your huge smile. We are so grateful for having known you and the countless moments together. Ulale Ngoxolo Mfowethu, South Africa is proud of you and will honor you forever. Your music lives on in the hearts of millions.’ (Ladysmith Black Mambazo)

Serious Director, David Jones, was interviewed for South African news channel eNCA:

Remembering Hugh Masekela on SABC News:

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