The South African trumpeter — despite his exceptional output — is often derided in (elitist and purist) jazz circles as a crossover artist.
Ironically, as Simon Jenkins in the UK Guardian suggests in a colorful review of a Masekela concert in London, Masekela may have finally find his home doing exactly that; and with classical music of all things.
The review is also interesting for Jenkins reference to Gauteng by its apartheid name “Transvaal (sic)” and being surprised that the saviors of classical music can come from the Third World (’… how strange that the salvation of London’s orchestral scene should hail from the barrios of Caracas and the townships of Transvaal’).
But perhaps most intriguing is Jenkins description of Masekela as a “a mischievous but dignified imp.”
For a definition of an imp, see here and here.
Full article here
Filed under: Gustavo Dudamel, Hugh Masekela, Music, imp, jazz
