Hugh Masekela – Hope (Reel-to-Reel, Ultra Tape)
Hugh Masekela – flugelhorn, trumpet
Damon Duewhite – drums
Bakithi Kumalo – bass, vocals
Lawrence Matshiza – guitar, vocals
Themba Mkhize – keyboards, vocals
Remi Kabaka – percussion, vocals
Ngenekhaya Mahlanghu – saxophone, flute, vocals, percussion
Los Ballederos Hornas Africanos De Townsheep – backing vocals
Ultra Tape reel-to-reel
2 tapes
15 ips, ¼-inch analog tape copy (IEC equalization) sourced from a copy of the original analog master tape.
Transferred real-time, using an ATR-modified Ampex Tape Machine with flux magnetic heads.
Custom slipcase cover
Stereo
Live
Label : Analogue Productions
Original Label : Triloka Records
Recorded at Blues Alley, Washington DC 30th July - 1rst August 1993
Originally released in 1994 (as an LP)
Reissued in 2017 (first time as a Reel-to-Reel)
Tracks :
Abangoma (The Healers)
Uptownship
Mandela (Bring Him Back Home!)
Grazin' In The Grass
Lady
Until When
Languta
Nomali
Marketplace
Ntyilo Ntyilo (The Love Bird)
Ha Le Se (The Dowry Song)
Stimela (The Coal Train)
Reviews :
"Now happily resettled in South Africa, Masekela assembled a seven-piece group there and recorded an informal guided tour of his life and repertoire live in Washington D.C.'s Blues Alley. The songs stretch over a period of nearly five decades and several countries and composers -- from an incantatory Alexandria township tune, "Languta," which he learned in 1947, to a fairly ordinary piece written by keyboardist Themba Mkhize in 1993, "Until When." "Abangoma" starts the CD out on the right track, hearkening back to the early fusion of African music and jazz that Masekela was playing back in 1966. "Mandela (Bring Him Back Home)" may have lost some of its political raison d'etre by 1993, but it remains a good tune, and the band plays it with enthusiasm. Yet Masekela's biggest hit, "Grazing in the Grass," sounds a bit tired in this live rendition. There are two songs by the prolific South African composer Caiphus Semenya, "Nomali" and the driving "Ha Le Se," and the late Nigerian idol Fela Anikulapo-Kuti is represented by "Lady." Clearly the resolution of the political struggle in South Africa had mellowed Masekela; he sounds happier, perhaps less fiery, certainly more polished and refined on the trumpet and flugelhorn than when he started out. But when you hear his bitter narration on "Stimela," describing the life of formerly conscripted coal miners, you suspect that not all of the old wounds have healed." AllMusic Review by Richard S. Ginell
Ratings :
AllMusic 4/5 , Discogs 4.66/5