Title: Still Grazing The Musical Journey of Hugh Masekela
Authors: Hugh Masekela and D Michael Cheers
Reviewer: Bonginkosi Tiwane
FROM reviews I've read, and stories I've heard from artists and others, Hugh Masekela's musical journey has been capitivating.
Masekela's autobiography was first published in 2004 by a US publishing house in New York. But Still Grazing: The Musical Journey of Hugh Masekela had never been published here in SA; only a limited number of copies of the first version were made available but were quickly sold out.
South African book readers had been waiting ever since to have their chance of being enthralled by the Masekela story.
Still Grazing lives up to expectation from the word go. Masekela wastes no time unpacking the intricacies of his origins and family background. From KwaGuqa in Witbank, to Payneville in Springs and Alexandra in Joburg, it appears there was never a dull moment in Masekela's early life even when he was close to death during a bout of illness when he was a little boy.
The book is not just steeped in Masekela's rock-star life, it also carefully gives a political idea of what was happening during the gruelling early days of apartheid.
His early years were a life in a shebeen run from his grandmother Johanna Mthise Mabena-Bowers's home. The illegal drinking hole catered mostly for migrant workers, whose own backgrounds, cultures and songs helped shape his outlook on life and, most significantly, affinity for song and dance.
Masekela was still in primary school when his family moved to Alexandra township, which he says was a political haven for radical ANC activists like Nelson Mandela, Lillian Ngoyi and others who honed their oratorical skills at Number Three Square.
His relationship with music, which was forged by formal piano lessons in Springs, is nicely detailed, from just having a good ear to being part of a school band. But at some point it felt like I was reading fiction. If you didn't think stars are born, not made, this book might change your outlook.
After watching a 1950 movie Young Man with a Horn, in which Kirk Douglas played a trumpet wizard, Masekela made a lasting decision to be a trumpeter. His dream of stardom with the instrument was sent into zenith when he received a gift of a trumpet, mailed from the US by Louis Armstrong.
The story is as fast-paced as the life Masekela lived in the US and Africa, making this autobiography a page turner. One of its hallmarks is the explanation of how his seemingly lifetime love affair with Mirriam Makeba started, and how Makeba helped him and his career.
Still Grazing is an easy and hugely entertaining read; a sure winner.
The Musical Journey of Hugh Masekela is published by Jacana and it priced at R225.
Life as seen and trumpeted by Hugh Masekela
Title: Still Grazing The Musical Journey of Hugh Masekela
Authors: Hugh Masekela and D Michael Cheers
Reviewer: Bonginkosi Tiwane
FROM reviews I've read, and stories I've heard from artists and others, Hugh Masekela's musical journey has been capitivating.
Masekela's autobiography was first published in 2004 by a US publishing house in New York. But Still Grazing: The Musical Journey of Hugh Masekela had never been published here in SA; only a limited number of copies of the first version were made available but were quickly sold out.
South African book readers had been waiting ever since to have their chance of being enthralled by the Masekela story.
Still Grazing lives up to expectation from the word go. Masekela wastes no time unpacking the intricacies of his origins and family background. From KwaGuqa in Witbank, to Payneville in Springs and Alexandra in Joburg, it appears there was never a dull moment in Masekela's early life even when he was close to death during a bout of illness when he was a little boy.
The book is not just steeped in Masekela's rock-star life, it also carefully gives a political idea of what was happening during the gruelling early days of apartheid.
His early years were a life in a shebeen run from his grandmother Johanna Mthise Mabena-Bowers's home. The illegal drinking hole catered mostly for migrant workers, whose own backgrounds, cultures and songs helped shape his outlook on life and, most significantly, affinity for song and dance.
Masekela was still in primary school when his family moved to Alexandra township, which he says was a political haven for radical ANC activists like Nelson Mandela, Lillian Ngoyi and others who honed their oratorical skills at Number Three Square.
His relationship with music, which was forged by formal piano lessons in Springs, is nicely detailed, from just having a good ear to being part of a school band. But at some point it felt like I was reading fiction. If you didn't think stars are born, not made, this book might change your outlook.
After watching a 1950 movie Young Man with a Horn, in which Kirk Douglas played a trumpet wizard, Masekela made a lasting decision to be a trumpeter. His dream of stardom with the instrument was sent into zenith when he received a gift of a trumpet, mailed from the US by Louis Armstrong.
The story is as fast-paced as the life Masekela lived in the US and Africa, making this autobiography a page turner. One of its hallmarks is the explanation of how his seemingly lifetime love affair with Mirriam Makeba started, and how Makeba helped him and his career.
Still Grazing is an easy and hugely entertaining read; a sure winner.
The Musical Journey of Hugh Masekela is published by Jacana and it priced at R225.
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