The Nation Newspaper

Tag: Hugh Masekela

  • LIJF to honour Hugh Masekela

    Organisers of the Lagos International Jazz Festival (LIJF) have announced that this year’s celebration will be held in memory of the late South African Jazz legend, Hugh Masekela who recently passed on.

    Scheduled to hold on Monday, April 30 which is globally recognized as International Jazz Day, the one day multistage event takes place at the arts and culture hotspot, Freedom Park in the heart of Lagos.

    Speaking on this year’s ceremony, LIJF founder and festival director, Ayoola Sadare said; “it’s with great pleasure that on our 10th anniversary we are able to honor the memory of the late legendary international icon, cultural statesman & father of South African Jazz Hugh Maleeka on the LIJF platform though post mortem. Bra Hugh was an inspiration to the Jazz community locally and globally, though he never performed on the LIJF stage we believe we owe him a duty to be celebrated for his long and positively impactful life through his music. Hugh Masekela’s spirit lives on through his music which will be with us for a long time.”

    The maiden edition of the Lagos International Jazz Festival (LIJF) took place in 2008 at Studio 868 in Victoria Island. It was headlined by South Africa’s Award winning Freshly Ground & UK’s Courtney Pine. The Annual Lagos International Jazz Festival organized by Inspiro productions is part of the Lagos Tourism Arts & Culture Calendar and is supported by the Lagos State Government & Lagos Tourism amongst others.

     

  • Tributes to Hugh Masekela holds in Lagos

    Tributes to Hugh Masekela holds in Lagos

    As the news of the passing of Hugh Masekela is reverberating all over the world and with many governments, corporations and individuals pouring encomiums on the act of the legend, Nigerian Jazz musicians were also not left out, as  Othello’s, a leading upscale hospitality outfit in Lagos, has hosted its clients to a tribute session in honour of the deceased, an international Jazz legend and father of South African Jazz Bra who died on January 23, 2018.

    The event, themed ‘white and black and baddest’, was powered by Inspiro Productions, organisers of the annual Lagos International Jazz Festival. Present on the band stand that night were Jazz Master & Director of The SPAN Academy of Jazz & Contemporary Music – Bright Gain, Top Jazz Trumpeter & Educationist – Biodun Batik, Ace Jazz Trumpeter – Taiwo Clegg, Multi-instrumentalist & Performer Seun Olota, FemiSlide the Afrojazz/Highlife Trombonist, Leading Jazz Trumpeter Kwitee, fast rising Saxophonist Darex and others.

    At the well-attended event, guests were received with exotic cocktails and light refreshments before the performance kicked off with Rapha the comedian compering the event. The live performances were interspersed with tributes to the great man, his music and impact. Jazz Impresario and CEO of Inspiro Productions, Ayoola Sadare, spoke glowingly about his encounter with Bra Hugh and contact over the years and also announced the dedication of the Lagos International Jazz Festival in April 2018 to Hugh Masekela. Dede Mabiaku popular musician and protégé of Afrobeat founder Fela Kuti spoke passionately of how over the years Hugh Masekela had become a father to him, his connection and many visits to Nigeria.

    Amongst dignitaries at the event were the German Consul General Ingo Herbert, a delegation from South Africa led by their Vice Consul Political Mr. Mbedzi and representing Honourable Steve Ayorinde, the Lagos Commissioner of Tourism, Arts & Culture was Mr. Frank Legunsen of the same ministry.

    Others include the President of the Performing Musicians Employers’ Association Of Nigeria and his wife Mr. and Mrs Pretty Okafor, JazzMan Olofin and son of Highlife legend Bayode Olaiya representing his father Dr. Victor Olaiya.

    The tribute session rounded off with a raffle draw and the prizes were for guests to win Othello’s 5 Days Of Valentines package of a three-course dinner for couple during the valentine period which five lucky couples won.

    Singer Annjay supports JAMB applicants with free forms

    In her way of helping her fans fulfil their dreams of getting an education, singer, song writer, model and entrepreneur, John Angela Chioma, better known as Annjay, has donated JAMB forms to some applicants.

    According to the singer, the move is aimed at not just starting the year on a bright note, but also to put a smile on the faces of her fans while giving them a ray of hope, no matter how small.

    Taking to her Facebook and Instagram pages, she wrote: “Few 2018/2019 Jamb forms up for grab from me….Send your phone number/Email address to my Dm. My team will contact you if you are among the lucky people. Start now as entries closes by 6pm today. For student in Lagos only pls. All the best.”

    Annjay stated that she will be giving out a number of forms only as the applicants have to do the registration themselves.

    “I don’t want to disclose the number of forms because the aim is not to brag about it,” said Annjay, who released a couple of singles including, ‘Man No Be God’.

    “However, I and my team are comfortable knowing that we have set the process in motion for some people. That is the reason we are not taking photographs with them. Education is a very important part of human existence and we would like to be a part of someone’s process.”

    She also launched Annjay Hair, a product which she says caters for all females, irrespective of class.

    Speaking on the quality of her products, the singer said; “We are presently well stocked with Brazilian Virgin human hair, eye lashes for women and we have a range of other products which we will be introducing into the Nigerian market soon.”

    On the music front, she said that her fans should expect more singles from her before the year runs out.

     

  • Jazz legend Hugh Masekela dies at 78

    Jazz legend Hugh Masekela dies at 78

    Legendary trumpeter and anti-apartheid activist, Hugh Masekela died on Tuesday, aged 78.

    In a statement, his family said ‘Father of South African jazz’ “passed peacefully” in Johannesburg “after a protracted and courageous battle with prostate cancer.”

    They described him as “a loving father, brother, grandfather and friend” who would be “forever in our hearts.”

    They said details of his memorial and burial services would be released later.

    Masekela who was given his first trumpet when he was 14 used his ‘Soweto Blues’ to confront apartheid.

    South African President Jacob Zuma said Masekela’s death was “an immeasurable loss to the music industry and to the country at large” and said: “His contribution to the struggle for liberation will never be forgotten.”

    Affectionately called ‘Bra Hugh’, Masekela was born in the South African town of Witbank in 1939. He was inspired to learn the trumpet after seeing Kirk Douglas play Bix Beiderbecke in the 1950 film Young Man with a Horn.

    He persuaded one of his teachers – the anti-apartheid crusader Father Trevor Huddleston – to buy him an instrument, promising to stay out of trouble in return.

    In 1960, aged 21, he left South Africa to begin what would be 30 years in exile from the land of his birth.

    Under the tutelage of Dizzy Gillespie and Louis Armstrong, he was encouraged to develop his own unique style. And in 1967, he performed at the Monterey Pop Festival alongside Janis Joplin, Otis Redding, Ravi Shankar, The Who and Jimi Hendrix.

    The following year, his instrumental single, ‘Grazing in the Grass,’ topped the charts in the US and became a worldwide hit.

    In the 1970s, Mr. Masekela toured sub-Sarahan Africa and began a partnership with the Nigerian musician Fela Kuti, who had recently pioneered the genre known as Afrobeat. He also worked with the exiled South African saxophonist Dudu Pukwana and began fronting the Ghanaian group Hedzoleh Soundz.

    Masekela returned to South Africa in 1990 following the release of Nelson Mandela, whose freedom he had called for in his 1986 anthem Bring Home Nelson Mandela.

    In June 2010, he performed at both the opening concert of the Fifa World Cup and the tournament’s opening ceremony in Soweto’s Soccer City with Femi Kuti.

    Reacting to the legend’s passing, Femi Kuti posted a picture of both of them at the event and captioned it ‘Good memories RIP Mr. Hugh.’

    Masekela was diagnosed with Prostate Cancer in 2008 and in the last months of his life campaigned that men should go for regular cancer check-ups.

  • Jazz fest locks Bayelsa down today

    Jazz fest locks Bayelsa down today

    TODAY, Saturday December 7, Yenagoa, the capital of Bayelsa State will be stand up with a series of entertainment events that started yesterday with a beauty pageant. Tonight’s event is the much advertised Bayelsa International Jazz Festival.

    The jazz music extravaganza is billed for Gloryland Cultural Centre and will parade accomplished jazz artistes like Earl Klugh, Hugh Masekela, Somi and Nigeria’s own Femi Kuti among others.

    Organisers announced that there will be two shows, one in the late afternoon while the other will take place as a night show.

    Already, the venues for the two shows are taking shape as stage managers have been at work with stage designers putting the place in proper shape. The jazz festival started with a master class at which wannabe jazz musicians, entertainment journalists in print and broadcast medium artiste where taken through the rudiment of their profession by experts in the field.