Hugh Masekela - Hope (4LP, Box set, 45RPM)
ORDER LIMITED TO ONE ITEM PER CUSTOMER
Hugh Masekela – flugelhorn, trumpet [click here to see more vinyl featuring Hugh Masakela]
Damon Duewhite – drums
Bakithi Kumalo – bass, vocals
Lawrence Matshiza – guitar, vocals
Themba Mkhize – keyboards, vocals
Remi Kabaka – percussion, vocals
Ngenekhaya Mahlanghu – saxophone, flute, vocals, percussion
Los Ballederos Hornas Africanos De Townsheep – backing vocals
4 LPs, Box set, Gatefold tip-on jacket by Stoughton Printing
Limited Edition
Original analog Master tape : YES
Record color : black
Speed : 45RPM
Size : 12”
Stereo
Live
Record Press : RTI
Label : Analogue Productions
Original Label : Triloka Records
Recorded at Blues Alley, Washington DC 30th July - 1rst August 1993
Engineered by David Hewitt
Remastered by Kevin Gray at Cohearent Audio
Produced by Lee Gillette
Originally released in 1994
Reissued in 2023
Tracks :
Side A:
Abangoma (The Healers)
Uptownship
Side B:
Mandela (Bring Him Back Home!)
Grazin' In The Grass
Side C:
Lady
Side D:
Languta
Side E:
Nomali
Side F:
Marketplace
Ntyilo Ntyilo (The Love Bird)
Side G:
Ha Le Se (The Dowry Song)
Until When
Side H:
Stimela (The Coal Train)
Awards :
TAS Super LP List! Special Merit: Informal
Reviews :
"Now happily resettled in South Africa, Masekela assembled a seven-piece group there and recorded an informal guided tour of his life and repertoire live in Washington D.C.'s Blues Alley. The songs stretch over a period of nearly five decades and several countries and composers -- from an incantatory Alexandria township tune, "Languta," which he learned in 1947, to a fairly ordinary piece written by keyboardist Themba Mkhize in 1993, "Until When." "Abangoma" starts the CD out on the right track, hearkening back to the early fusion of African music and jazz that Masekela was playing back in 1966. "Mandela (Bring Him Back Home)" may have lost some of its political raison d'etre by 1993, but it remains a good tune, and the band plays it with enthusiasm. Yet Masekela's biggest hit, "Grazing in the Grass," sounds a bit tired in this live rendition. There are two songs by the prolific South African composer Caiphus Semenya, "Nomali" and the driving "Ha Le Se," and the late Nigerian idol Fela Anikulapo-Kuti is represented by "Lady." Clearly the resolution of the political struggle in South Africa had mellowed Masekela; he sounds happier, perhaps less fiery, certainly more polished and refined on the trumpet and flugelhorn than when he started out. But when you hear his bitter narration on "Stimela," describing the life of formerly conscripted coal miners, you suspect that not all of the old wounds have healed." AllMusic Review by Richard S. Ginell
"How sad, if timely: this stunning reissue of the 1994 live album arrived in the very week that trumpeter Masekela passed away. One of the most successful ambassadors ever for African music, his fusing of the continent's rhythms and instruments with contemporary jazz and rock proved irresistible. Nearly every one of you has heard him, thanks to guess spots with The Byrds and Paul Simon. His breakthough hit from 1968 — the infectious "Grazing In The Grass" — is here, along with another 11 tracks recorded at Blues Alley, the U.S. club that gave us Eva Cassidy. Notably, despite its early-1990s origins, this is all-analogue." Ken Kessler, HiFi News, May 2018
"...Hope is one of those intensely visceral, large as life, and immediately present recordings that will make pretty much any system sound at least very good, and will cause better ones to raise goose bumps." - Wayne Garcia, The Absolute Sound, August 2008
"...The high quality original mix plus Analogue Productions' superb mastering has resulted in a terrific, very transparent sonic with great impact." - John Henry, Audiophile Audition
Ratings :
AllMusic 4 / 5 , Discogs 4.66 / 5 , HiFi News : Sound Quality = 90%