Hugh Masekela
He comes across as a chap who is sociable, jovial and bubbling with life but Hugh Masekela is serious about using music to transform African societies.
The Grammy Award-winner has used his music as a voice in the fight for equality and justice in South Africa in the past 40 years but this time around, he wanted to refocus on how to restore what he called ?Africa?s lost heritage.?
The 73-year-old South African?trumpeter, flugelhornist, cornetist,?composer, and?singer wanted Africans in responsible positions to lead a crusade against westernization of the African culture.
In a hearty chat with DAILY GUIDE before the Kasapreko African Legends Night at the Banquet Hall, Accra, Masekela said, ?We have turned our backs on our heritage.?
?There is no society with so much diversity internationally as African society,? and added: ?Television and advertisements have come to convince us as Africans that our traditions are heathen, barbaric and backward.
?We are the only society in the world that feels ashamed of who we are.?
Masekela tried to trace the African heritage and said, ?Our wealth and strength is in the bush and we should not be ashamed of it.?
He faulted African intellectuals for leading all the people astray. ?Our educators are from the bush but they are taking us as far from the bush as possible?Africans by nature are farmers and hunters and we should recognize them as such.?
Masekela believed that reviving the can-do spirit of Africans would whip up enthusiasm. He wanted governments to set aside a day to commemorate what he called ?African Heritage Day.?
Quality production of traditional performances including music and art would surely lead to a restoration of the African heritage, according to Masekela.
?We need venues for traditional performances and if these are guaranteed we could make fantastic productions,? he said.
According to Masekela, the numerous languages in Africa were getting extinct because Africans themselves have adopted western and other foreign lifestyles. He said, ?It is amazing how we are losing our languages and nobody seems to take notice!?
He wanted academies set up purposely for the learning of local languages.
Masekela was also not happy at the rate at which technology was ?killing? creativity in the music industry: ?Technology has come with a lot of breakthroughs, but it has as well affected us negatively and the music industry cannot be left out.?
?Technology has compromised the art and killed originality. It has completely decimated the music industry. We don?t have people who are proficient anymore. It has killed the desire for people to be artistically capable.
?When I grew up, there was only one microphone on stage but today, everybody has a microphone. I don?t like to criticise anything but I don?t find them artistic either.
?It is a very strange world we are living in today. I look at my grandchildren and have the feeling that in 20 years they might say they used to be Africans long ago.?
He said music was ?inborn? in the African and must be credited for it.
?In South Africa, music to a certain extent lost us a country. We used to give free concert to the people who were attacking us. However, we regained our country through singing.
?Our music conscientised the rest of the world about what was happening under apartheid.?
The septuagenarian shared a secret about his healthy lifestyle, relating it to good living: ?I prefer locally prepared meals and eat well. I check what I eat and I don?t entertain junk food?Besides, I do a lot of physical exercise to keep my body in shape.?
Masekela continued to maintain a very active tour schedule, spreading his musical message of peace, harmony and unity throughout the world. He could also be heard adding his distinctive voice and flugelhorn to many other world artists? recordings?from some of Bob Marley?s earliest recordings to Buena Vista Social Club bassist?Cachaito Lopez?s 2001 solo record.
By William Yaw Owusu
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Source: http://www.dailyguideghana.com/?p=61735
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