World Routes
London Jazz Festival 2010, Hugh Masekela, The Mahotella Queens
A London Jazz Festival concert featuring some of South Africa's biggest stars. Hugh Masekela has been a master of South African jazz since the 1960s, becoming an international celebrity with his hit 'Grazin' in the Grass'. The Mahotella Queens are of a similar vintage, and can still excite audiences with their high-energy township dance music. This concert was recorded on the opening night of the 2010 London Jazz Festival. Hugh Masekela learned the trumpet at the age of 14, and by the end of the 1950s was recognised as a top player. In 1960 following the Sharpeville massacre, he left South Africa and settled for a while in the USA. After his 1987 song 'Bring him back home' came true with the release of Nelson Mandela, he returned to South Africa. Now 71, he is still recording and still touring the world. The Mahotella Queens are young in comparison, forming in 1964. They had a string of hits with the 'King of the groaners' Simon Mahlatini Nkabinde, combining the energy of township 'mbaqanga' music with tight vocal harmonies. The current band members - Hilda, Nobesuthu and Midred - were all in the original 1964 line-up.