''Jabulani'' is a studio album by South African jazz trumpeter

Hugh Masekela Hugh Ramapolo Masekela (4 April 1939 – 23 January 2018) was a South African trumpeter, flugelhornist, cornetist, singer and composer who was described as "the father of South African jazz". Masekela was known for his jazz compositions and f ...

. The record was released on via Listen 2 label in the USA and via Gallo Record Company label in South Africa. The Zulu word ''jabulani'' translates as: to be happy, or to bring joy and happiness. Recorded in

Pretoria, South Africa Pretoria ( ; ) is the administrative capital of South Africa, serving as the seat of the executive branch of government, and as the host to all foreign embassies to the country. Pretoria straddles the Apies River and extends eastward into ...

, the album is a collection of re-interpreted traditional South African wedding songs.

Critical reception

Matt Collar of

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Mus ...

stated: "Inspired by South African wedding traditions remembered from his youth, trumpeter Hugh Masekela's 2012 album Jabulani is a celebratory mix of jazz, pop, and African sounds. Backed by a bevy of talented musicians even including a small choir, Masekela is in top form throughout this celebratory album." Thomas Carroll of ''

All About Jazz ''All About Jazz'' is a website established by Michael Ricci in 1995. A volunteer staff publishes news, album reviews, articles, videos, and listings of concerts and other events having to do with jazz. Ricci maintains a related site, ''Jazz Near ...

'' noted: "At the age of 72, South African vocalist and multi-instrumentalist Hugh Masekela is still making music with as much energy and passion as he did in the days of '

Grazin' in the Grass "Grazing in the Grass" is an instrumental composed by Philemon Hou and first recorded by the South African trumpeter Hugh Masekela. Released in the United States as a single in 1968, it followed United States trumpeter Herb Alpert's vocal perform ...

' at the height of his international fame in the 1960s and 1970s. Historically, Masekela has used his music as a form of social and political activism to combat issues like

Apartheid Apartheid ( , especially South African English: , ; , ) was a system of institutionalised racial segregation that existed in South Africa and South West Africa (now Namibia) from 1948 to the early 1990s. It was characterised by an ...

. Jabulani strays from this trend of defiance and instead focuses on the joys and drawbacks of marriage, a highly ritualized and ceremonial institution in the South African village where Masekela was born... As a whole, Jabulani provides more of a snapshot of South African culture than a body of instrumental ingenuity. While the musical performance is never less than refined and professional, the message and mood of the album are clearly more important than the instrumental performance."

Recognition

On 10 February 2013, ''Jabulani'' was nominated for

Grammy Award for Best World Music Album The Grammy Award for Best Global Music Album is an honor presented to recording artists for influential music from around the globe at the Grammy Awards, a ceremony that was established in 1958 and originally called the Gramophone Awards. Honors i ...

. Masekela shared the nomination with Amadou & Miriam,

Daniel Ho Daniel Ho (born March 5, 1968) is an American musician, composer and producer specializing in innovative approaches to slack-key guitar, ukulele, and Music of Hawaii, Hawaiian music. He has recorded 18 solo albums, some of which have won or were ...

Anoushka Shankar Anoushka Hemangini Shankar (born 9 June 1981) is a British-American sitar player and musician of Indian descent, as well as occasional writer. She performs across multiple genres and styles—Indian classical, classical and contemporary, acoust ...

, and

Ravi Shankar Ravi Shankar (; born Robindro Shaunkor Chowdhury, sometimes spelled as Rabindra Shankar Chowdhury; 7 April 1920 – 11 December 2012) was an Indian sitar, sitarist and composer. A sitar virtuoso, he became the world's best-known expert of Hin ...

Critical reception

Recognition

Track listing

References

External links