SOUTH AFRICAN JAZZ ICON PASSES

Hugh Masekela, a South African jazz musician who influenced many artists throughout his long career, passed away this morning in Johannesburg, South Africa. He was seventy-eight. Cause of death was prostate cancer.

I first heard Mr. Masekela in 1968 with his number one hit"Grazing In The Grass". He met and friended musicians from Louis Armstrong to Harry Belafonte to Paul Simon. As a jazz enthusiast, Mr. Masekela had his own style which brought a unique sound influenced by his own experience growing up in apartheid South Africa. One could say he was an ambassador which brought about the end of apartheid and the freeing of Nelson Mandela from prison in the 1990s.

Rest in peach, Mr Masekela.