Thandiswa Mazwai Set To Pay Homage To Her Mentor & Friend The Late Hugh Masekela

Thandiswa Mazwai Set To Pay Homage To Her Mentor & Friend Hugh Masekela – Thandiswa Mazwai is set to pay homage to her mentor and friend Hugh Masekela in a big way.

Thandiswa Mazwai is set to headline the fifth instalment of The Hugh Masekela Heritage Festival on November 9 at the Soweto Theatre in Jabulani. This is designed to commemorate Masekela’s 80th birthday, this will be the first time the festival takes place without him.

Hugh Masekela deceased in January last year. Mazwai will give honour to Masekela with his body of work that attributes of selections from his not so popular collection. She will be on stage with the Hugh Masekela Band.

“This is a bitter-sweet request. I obviously love Bra Hugh’s music but I’m still very sad that he is no longer with us,” Mazwai said. “I have been a huge fan of Hughey since I was 14 and our friendship was one of the most important relationships of my life so this is a very special show for me.

“My first performance with Bra Hugh was when I was about 14 years old with my high school choir. Nothing could prepare me for doing Hughey’s music without him.”

Miss Mazwai addressed that her closest memory of Masekela that she respects a was a letter he wrote to her when they recorded Thanayi.

“He was telling me I had the potential to be an important voice of my generation,” Mazwai recalled.

“He also wrote that I should keep my humour and humility and spoke of the importance of not listening to too much criticism or too much praise.”

Since its inception in 2013, Ringo Mandlingozi and Phuzekhemisi have joined Masekela on stage in celebrating African heritage, tradition and identity.

“My biggest obsession is to show Africans and the world who the people of Africa really are, and this festival remains a great showcase of our traditional and modern musical talents. It’s always a great party,” Masekela once said.