Techno-Bush

A flugelhorn and cornet player from South Africa, Hugh Masekela enjoyed a healthy career in the US through the 1960s and ‘70s, even cropping up on albums from Paul Simon and the Byrds. But after a career spinning together Afrobeat, highlife, and jazz-funk, Masekela grew frustrated by the apartheid repression in his home country. Decamping to neighboring Botswana and setting up a mobile studio there, he tapped into the sound of the new generation and cut a synth-heavy melange of electro, hip-hop, mbaqanga, boogie, and funk with 1984’s Techno-Bush. Opening track “Don’t Go Lose It Baby” has proto-techno elements, while “The Seven Riffs Of Africa” medley recasts a number of old Masekela tunes and the well-known “Wimoweh” in an upbeat dance setting, speaking out against the apartheid of his home country while providing a groove that the townships could jump to.