Home Is Where the Music Is / The African Connection

I've said it before and I'll say it again: how many goddamn jazz albums am I gonna have to sit through

Flugelhorn is pretty fun, but the sax parts here are my favorite. This is kind of a long album, but it's background-able, so didn't feel too long. Then again, it's background-able, so how great an album (on my personal ranking) can it really be? Thus... 3.

Highlight: 'Nomali'

Good smooth jazz album

Perfectly pleasant

Für die einen ist es Tinnitus für andere innovativer Jazz-Fusion. Die experimentellen Klänge und komplexen Arrangements könnten für eingefleischte Jazz-Fans faszinierend sein, wirken jedoch streckenweise langatmig und verlieren an Emotionalität und sind abartig bluesig. Der schönste Moment war als der letzte Song überstanden war.

I can't say I heard of Hugh Masekela before. From what I can gather, he was a renowned South African trumpeter, flugelhornist and jazz composer active in the anti-apartheid movement. As such, his music, even in an instrumental sense, could be viewed as a desire for political change in his homeland.

In the case of this album, Home Is Where the Music Is, the marriage of bebop style jazz and South African folk rhythms can be viewed as an homage to his upbringing and a celebration of black African culture and talent amidst racial segregation. The album starts nicely with Hugh's staccato trumpeting on the opener "Part of a Whole", to the lush tickling of the ivory keys on "Minawa", to the bustling New York busy vibe of "The Big Apple" to establish the musicianship on display. After that is when the challenge kicks in, from the more experimental spare horn arrangement on "Unhome", to the complex rhythm pattern and sway on "Maseru", to the harsh stomp of "Inner Crisis" and intense percussive roll of "Blues for Huey". There's a bit of a rest after the onslaught with the wonderful jazz ballad "Nomali" and the poignant soul of "Maesha", before ending on the most overt homage to Hugh's roots on "Ingoo Pow-Pow (Children's Song)" with the Afrobeat percussion and passionate chanting. By the end, the journey taken is clear, from the comforts of jazz music into more challenging and daring ideas as Hugh showed his love and support towards his country.

Honestly, my only gripe with this album is that it is a rather long listen, clocking in at over 76 minutes. I can imagine someone putting this record in the background, and they can certainly enjoy it in passing. It probably takes a level of attention and engagement to follow the path that Hugh set forth back to his homeland.

I consider Home Is Where the Music Is to be a rewarding listen, one that spoke about Hugh Masekela's cultural heritage in a way that mere words would not have done it justice.

Aside from the album title this was fantastic! Maseru is the standout track for me.

This was actually pretty cool....

Great album. It's no Fela Kuti, but few are. This is solid jazz with a healthy injection of afrobeat. Really fun to listen to and never gets stale.

Amazing!

Nice jazz album to relax to. Great horn and piano sections throughout. Inner Crisis being a personal favorite.

I only listened to half of this. It was enjoyable, but when I ran out of time to listen for the moment, nothing about the album was compelling enough to make me want to finish

I enjoyed the 2nd half of this record far more than the 1st. Which is a shame - took me 3 days to listen to what is a relatively good record.

sou mto de jazz não, mas que pedrada. bom pra trabalhar tranquilim.

I don’t have much context for this album, but it feels like part of a larger whole— a contemporary high point between classic jazz and fusion.

Pretty good for jazz. 3.0

Wow, from the first beat I'm in. 2nd jazz album this week and I'm not upset.
Instrumental, enjoyable albums are always high stars for me. 5*
Highlight: inner crisis
Ingoo pow-pow came out of nowhere -- i know the description says afrobeat but I didn't get any of that in the other tracks.

Loved it.
It seems like background music, and really that's how I treated it, but it had focus for more of my workday than I would tell my boss.

Not my cup of tea. Too dull.

I'm sure it's very accomplished in its genre, but I just do not give a s*** right now.