{"id":57470,"date":"2018-01-25T20:30:55","date_gmt":"2018-01-25T20:30:55","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/zenpundit.com\/?p=57470"},"modified":"2018-01-26T01:36:43","modified_gmt":"2018-01-26T01:36:43","slug":"hugh-masekela-rip","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/zenpundit.com\/?p=57470","title":{"rendered":"Hugh Masekela, RIP"},"content":{"rendered":"

[ by Charles Cameron<\/strong> — I’m not particularly a jazz buff — this is mostly about my mentor Trevor Huddleston, who was also Maasekela’s mentor ]
\n.<\/p>\n

Hugh Masekela<\/strong>, jazz trumpeter extraordinaire, is no longer with us. May he rest in peace.<\/p>\n

I was happy to read the story of Masekela’s connection with the mentor we were both ignited by, Fr Trevor Huddleston<\/strong> CR, in this obit for Masekela in the Guardian<\/a>:<\/p>\n

Hugh was given his own instrument when he was 14. He was then a pupil at St Peter\u2019s, a remarkable secondary school for black children that became a centre for opponents of apartheid before being closed by the authorities. The staff included Oliver Tambo, later leader of the ANC, and Trevor Huddleston, later Archbishop Huddleston, president of the British Anti-Apartheid Movement. The young Masekela was always in trouble. \u201cI was one of the worst delinquents\u201d, he once told me, \u201calways fighting with the teachers or going into town stealing.\u201d He was sent to see Huddleston because \u201cyou\u2019d be sent to him when everything else had failed\u201d.<\/p>\n

Masekela had wanted a trumpet, he said, after seeing the 1950 film Young Man With a Horn, and recalled that he told the priest: \u201cIf I can get a trumpet I won\u2019t bother anyone one any more.\u201d Huddleston managed to raise \u00a315 (\u201ca lot of money in those days\u201d) to buy the instrument, found a black Salvation Army trumpeter to teach Masekela, \u201cand then he sat outside the school making hideous noises\u201d. Other pupils naturally wanted instruments as well, and the Huddleston Jazz Band was born. They wore black trousers and grey silk shirts, and played American rather than African music. Along with Masekela, the band featured the trombonist Jonas Gwangwa, who would also become a star.<\/p>\n

Huddleston continued to help Masekela even after the priest had left the school and South Africa. In 1956, when he was in the US publicising his book Naught for Your Comfort, he told Masekela\u2019s story to a journalist, who suggested that it might interest Louis Armstrong, the best known trumpeter of the day. Armstrong was fascinated and handed Huddleston one of his horns to give to Masekela. \u201cI sent it straight to South Africa, and I have a wonderful picture of Hugh jumping for joy,\u201d said Huddleston.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

It is good to see Fr Trevor so honored.<\/p>\n

**<\/p>\n

I talked about Fr Trevor, Masekela, the Huddleston Jazz Band, and Satchmo<\/strong>‘s trumpet in Between the warrior and the monk (ii): Fr Trevor Huddleston<\/a>, and while the photos there may be of interest —
\n especially the one where Satchmo is presenting Fr Trevor with the trumpet for Masekela — the video of Maasekela’s first record, Ndenzeni Na<\/strong> with the Huddleston Jazz Band has expired.<\/p>\n

Happily, there’s another copy on Youtube for us to hear:<\/p>\n