Apr 15, 2025 11:44 AM
Blindfold Test: Ethan Iverson
Between last Christmas and New Year’s Eve, Ethan Iverson performed as part of the 31st Umbria Jazz Winter festival in…
Hugh Masekela (foreground) performs during the International Jazz Day 2015 Global Concert at UNESCO on April 30, 2015 in Paris, France.
(Photo: Kristy Sparow/Getty Images for Thelonious Monk Institute of Jazz)South African trumpet, flugelhorn and cornet player Hugh Masekela died Tuesday in Johannesburg, according to news reports.
The bandleader, who succumbed to cancer, was 78.
“A loving father, brother, grandfather and friend, our hearts beat with profound loss,” Masekela’s family wrote in a note posted to his social media accounts. “Hugh’s global and activist contribution to and participation in the areas of music, theatre and the arts in general is contained in the mind and memory of millions across six continents ... .”
Masekela’s career stretches back to the 1960s as Apartheid still was a daily part of South African society. With music, he was able transcend the racist rule of law and would become an internationally celebrated performer, collaborating with the likes of The Byrds and Paul Simon.
Among his most famous recordings is “Grazing In The Grass,” an instrumental track that became an international hit in 1968.
A full obituary will be posted to the DownBeat website in the coming days. DB
“I’m certainly influenced by Geri Allen,” said Iverson, during a live Blindfold Test at the 31st Umbria Jazz Winter festival.
Apr 15, 2025 11:44 AM
Between last Christmas and New Year’s Eve, Ethan Iverson performed as part of the 31st Umbria Jazz Winter festival in…
“At the end of the day, once you’ve run out of differences, we’re left with similarities,” Collier says. “Cultural differences are mitigated through 12 notes.”
Apr 15, 2025 11:55 AM
DownBeat has a long association with the Midwest Clinic International Band and Orchestra Conference, the premiere…
“It kind of slows down, but it’s still kind of productive in a way, because you have something that you can be inspired by,” Andy Bey said on a 2019 episode of NPR Jazz Night in America, when he was 80. “The music is always inspiring.”
Apr 29, 2025 11:53 AM
Singer Andy Bey, who illuminated the jazz scene for five decades with a four-octave range that encompassed a bellowing…
Foster was truly a drummer to the stars, including Miles Davis, Sonny Rollins and Joe Henderson.
Jun 3, 2025 11:25 AM
Al Foster, a drummer regarded for his fluency across the bebop, post-bop and funk/fusion lineages of jazz, died May 28…
Davis was a two-time Grammy winner for liner notes.
Apr 22, 2025 11:50 AM
Francis Davis, an august jazz and cultural critic who won both awards and esteem in print, film and radio, died April…