| Hugh Masekela will play a Festival Series concert April 3 (Photo: Mark Shoul/ www.hughmasekela.co.za) |
Hugh Masekela, a driving
force in world music, and Peter Erskine, a drummer who excels at driving a band, will be the featured
performers for Jazz Week at Bowling Green State University starting on Monday.Inspired by American jazz,
Masekela, on flugelhorn and vocals, took the sound of his native South Africa around the world. His
blend of African, soul and jazz styles proved not only a potent musical statement, but also gave him a
platform to protest the racist white regime that ruled South Africa.Masekela will perform a Festival
Series concert Wednesday, the day before he turns 74.Growing up outside Johannesburg in South Africa,
Masekela started playing piano as a youngster. He was inspired to take up trumpet when he saw the
American film "Young Man With a Horn," based on the life of cornetist Bix Beiderbecke.He
played in a youth band and in the pit orchestra for "King Kong," a musical starring his future
wife Miriam Makeba.Later he formed what is credited as the first African jazz ensemble the Jazz Epistles
with pianist Dollar Brand (now Abdullah Ibrahim). They performed extensively in 1959-1960, but in the
wake of the Sharpeville Massacre in 1960 and the crackdown by the apartheid regime, Masekela left his
homeland, not returning until the government had fallen.Fittingly when his homeland hosted the World Cup
in 2010 he played at the opening ceremonies.In the intervening years he celebrated both the joys of
South Africa with songs such as his hit "Grazing in the Grass" as well as the fight against
apartheid.His 1980 hit "Bring Him Home" became the theme song for the international movement
to free Nelson Mandela, the leader of the African National Congress.Masekela also helped bring the
sounds of South Africa to Broadway as co-creator of "Sarafina."Last year he was reunited with
Paul Simon and others including Makeba and Black Ladysmith Mambazo for a 25th anniversary celebration of
Simon’s Graceland tour, which culminated with a concert in South Africa’s neighbor Zimbabwe.
| Peter Erskine will perform April 4 and 5, and then travel to Toledo to perform a tribute to Stan Kenton April 6 (Photo provided by Toledo Jazz Orchestra) |
Also on campus,
Erskine will be featured April 4 in a concert with the jazz faculty and April 5 with the Jazz Lab Band
I.An Interlochen Arts Academy graduate, he started playing with Stan Kenton at 17. He went on to play
with the pioneering jazz fusion band Weather Report, and then Steps Ahead. Since then he has recorded
with a wide array of musical talent and led more than 30 sessions as a leader, including several
recently on his own label Fuzzy Music.He appears on about 600 recordings.He’s performed with pop diva
Joni Mitchell, played bebop and fusion, recorded movie soundtracks and soloed with symphony
orchestras.Jazz Week also showcases the work of BGSU students as well.Scheduled concerts are:• Chamber
jazz ensembles, Monday at 8 p.m., Bryan Recital Hall.• Vocal jazz ensemble, Tuesday at 8 p.m., Bryan
Recital Hall.• Masekela, Wednesday 8 p.m., Kobacker Hall. Concert tickets are $24 to $38. Contact
http://bgsu.edu/arts or call (419) 372-8171.• Erskine with jazz faculty April 4 at 8 p.m., Bryan Recital
Hall.• Erskine with Jazz Lab Band I April 5 at 8 p.m. Kobacker Hall.All events, except the Masekela
Festival Series concert, are free.Masekela videoshttp://www.hughmasekela.co.za/index.php/media-gallery/video-galleryPeter Erskine videos &
audio:http://www.petererskine.com/media.html
