“The Big Apple” (instrumental song by Hugh Masekela, 1972)
“The Big Apple” is an instrumental song on the album Home Is Where the Music Is (1972) by South African trumpeter, flugelhornist, cornetist, singer and composer Hugh Masekela (1939-2018), often called the “father of South African jazz.” The song was written by South African-born composer and musician Caiphus Semenya, who moved to Los Angeles in the 1960s.
“Hugh Masekela – The Big Apple- Yaya lived three summers in Manhattan” was posted on Twitter by Pierrette Mimi Poinsett MD on October 8, 2009. “One of Semenya’s distinctive pieces is ‘The Big Apple,’ with Masekela’s trumpet and Dudu Pukwana’s alto sax dragging against each other, luxuriating in the dissonance like two taxis in Times Square” was printed in Trading Eights (December 30, 2019).
Wikipedia: Home Is Where the Music Is
Home Is Where the Music Is is a 1972 jazz and Afrobeat double LP by Hugh Masekela issued by the joint American label Chisa/Blue Thumb Records. The album was included in the book 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die.
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Miles Keylock of Channel 24 wrote: “Recorded at London’s Island Studios a matter of months before his own departure to Guinea these 10 tracks (originally a double LP) find Masekela digging deep into his African jazz heritage. Gone are the patented pop jazz covers, replaced by inquisitive Afro-American conversations that range from rhythm ‘n bluesy soaked soul jazz extrapolations on fellow exiled composer Caiphus Semenya’s ‘The Big Apple’ to freewheeling Cape to Cuba township bop original groovers like ‘Maseru’ and the lilting ballad ‘Nomali’.”
Track listing
No. Title Writer(s) Length
1. “Part of a Whole” Caiphus Semenya 9:37
2. “Minawa” Sekou Toure 9:37
3. “The Big Apple” Caiphus Semenya 7:53
Genius.com (lyrics)
The Big Apple
Hugh Masekela
This song is an instrumental
Twitter
Pierrette Mimi Poinsett MD
@yayayarndiva
Hugh Masekela – The Big Apple- Yaya lived three summers in Manhattan ♫ http://blip.fm/~eizs6
3:28 PM · Oct 8, 2009·Twitter Web Client
Twitter
The JazzAvenger
@jazzavenger
Was just going through my collection and found this funky little gem: Hugh Masekela, The Big Apple http://tinysong.com/tZT5 #jazz
12:58 PM · Apr 25, 2010·Twitter Web Client
YouTube
Hugh Masekela - The Big Apple
Jul 17, 2010
utubesucks2003
Album:
Home Is Where The Music Is
Twitter
Victor Dlamini
@victordlamini
The Big Apple. Hugh Masekela. His love song to the city he called home for many many moons
4:33 AM · Dec 26, 2017·Twitter for iPhone
Twitter
Black Mixtape
@black_mixtape
“The Big Apple”, 3rd track on Hugh Masekela 1972 Lp “Home Is Where The Music Is”.
Composed by M. Caiphus Semenya
Lineup :
Trumpet – Hugh Masekela
Drums – Makaya Ntshoko
Piano – Larry Willis
Saxophone – Dudu Phukwana https://youtube.com/watch?v=BwI6uJ2J-DM
2:55 PM · May 1, 2018·Facebook
Twitter
Snowzaaaa
@obvslysnowy
Replying to @obvslysnowy
Someone listen The Big Apple by Hugh Masekela and come tell me it didn’t inspire any John Legend song
3:10 AM · Jul 2, 2019·Twitter Web App
Psaudio.com
TRADING EIGHTS
Hugh Masekela, Jazz Legend
ISSUE 101 (December 30, 2019)
Written by Anne E. Johnson
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One of Semenya’s distinctive pieces is “The Big Apple,” with Masekela’s trumpet and Dudu Pukwana’s alto sax dragging against each other, luxuriating in the dissonance like two taxis in Times Square. Eddie Gomez’s bass guitar provides a foundation as solid as concrete. The magic of Masekela’s first solo rests in how laid-back it is in a harmonic world that could easily lead him into a frenzy.