Hugh Masekela

Apr 19, 2013
8:00 pm

South African trumpeter, composer, producer, and activist Hugh Masekela is a defining and innovative force in world music and jazz. He performed his Grammy Award-nominated song “Grazing in the Grass” (which sold over 4 million copies in 1968) at the opening ceremony of the 2010 World Cup in South Africa, as well as at the inaugural "International Jazz Day" at the United Nations in 2012 with Stevie Wonder, Lionel Loueke, Angelique Kidjo, Richard Bona, and Jimmy Heath. Mr. Masekela's 1987 song “Bring Him Back Home” was an anthem for the "Free Nelson Mandela" movement. He also toured with Paul Simon in support of the classic album “Graceland” (1986), and appeared with U2 in Johannesburg in 2011.

A Crowell Concert Series event presented by the Music Department and the Center for the Arts. Co-sponsored by the Center for African American Studies. This concert is part of the 12th  annual Wesleyan Jazz Orchestra Weekend; as well as “Music & Public Life,” a year-long campus and community-wide exploration, celebrating and studying the sounds, words, and spirit of music at the local, national, and transnational levels through concerts, workshops, gatherings, and courses, all designed to cross disciplines.

This concert will open with a performance by students of West African Drumming at Wesleyan, directed by Master Drummer and Adjunct Professor of Music Abraham Adzenyah. There will be a pre-concert talk at 7:15pm by Wesleyan University Professor of Music Eric S. Charry.

Crowell Concert Hall
50 Wyllys Avenue
Wesleyan University
Middletown, CT
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