This week on From the Vault we present two outstanding interviews with the legendary South African trumpeter, composer, and singer Hugh Masakela, probably best known for his smash hits "Grazing in the Grass" (1968) and "Bring Him Back Home" (1987), a song that would become an anthem for the movement to free Nelson Mandela. The first interview with Masekela, conducted by Sue Supriano in 1988 for the radio series "Steppin' out of Babylon" focuses on his responsibility as a musician to bring South Africa's problems to world attention and the controversy surrounding his work in 1987 on Paul Simon's Graceland album. We'll also feature an extended interview with Masakela from March 2014 with BBC radio host and Pacifica Radio Archives collaborator Joanne Griffith; they chat about his musical education during childhood, his exile from South Africa, and his new life in America.
From the Vault is presented as part of the Pacifica Radio Archives Preservation and Access Project, funded in part by an award from the GRAMMY Foundation and the National Historical Publications and Records Commission at the National Archives and Records Administration, and past grants from the National Endowment for the Arts, the Ford Foundation, and the American Archive funded by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, along with the generous support of Pacifica Radio Listeners. We also thank our partners and collaborators at the Pop-Up Archive, Amara, Other Minds Archives, George Blood Audio, and the California Audio Visual Preservation Project.
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