Home Is Where The Music Is

One thing I’ve learnt from 1001’ is that I can’t really handle Jazz in most forms.

This is the jazz album I didn't know I was looking for, but definitely was. Blown away. 1. Love the groove. The trumpet/flugelhorn riff is fun. The sax quality has a Canterbury scene sound, which I'm into. Here's the trumpet solo---what a intro!!! Holy cow I am so into this... Piano solo ugghhgbfffnnn 2. Slowing things way down---lovely cocktail bar/impressionistic style piano to start. Trumpet solo starts to heat up... tasty alto sax solo. The band is so in sync, it just feels incredible. The technical imperfections are part of the magic. 3. Another tasty groove holding us down with the winds blowing strong in the skies. The break before the piano solo stops you cold, and in fact you notice the bass before you realize the piano is even taking it, but it gets going. Could be a stronger climax here though. A minor complaint about a great track. 4. Fun bass line. Quiet and kind of mysterious. This doesn't sound like American jazz---it's just more fun. This song by itself doesn't go anywhere new... Except into a fun solo to start the next track! 5. This has a Mariachi/Super-Mario vibe! Moving into a hard swing. To be honest this isn't my favorite part---it almost sounds like the band is having trouble holding it together. But now we're onto solo piano... And back to impressively high speeds. Really in sync at the end here---still a satisfying close to the weakest track so far. 6. Dreamy dark piano. oOOh mmmhm into a funky funky funk! This track is definitely not disappointing. 7. Drum solos! 8. Sounds like a lazy summer day in Mr. Rogers' neighborhood. I'm into it. The piano solo adds a just a hint of mystery, drums add some edge, open up some new dimensions. I love the unison melody that takes us out. 9. Rhodes piano? Mellow opening into a triumphant wall of horns. back to the mellow groove... Lovely keyboard solo, and now we have a groove going. Very nice. Mmm heatin up. I'm bobbin my noggin. Ready for the trumpet solo when it comes---hits perfectly. I love the topography of this piece. 10. Jungly drum intro with some wanton sax. And vocals! Bantu? Love this as a cap to the album. I assume the vocals are placing the album in South Africa, where Masekela grew up. It's a departure from the rest of the album, but a good one. The final trumpet note leaves you hanging---there is definitely more to come for me: I am going to check out the rest of Masekela's catalog.

Listening to anti-apartheid jazz while watching ICE trucks barreling down my street towards the the farms is definitely making me feel a type of way…

Nothing quickens the pulse but then again it's not meant to. By the end you realise that what's seemed like exceptionally good background music has actually occupied the forefront of your mind for an hour and a quarter. Hell of a trick, that.

Clearly talented but couldn’t really get into it

Too long. A few highlights. Mostly not for me.

Great walking album. Sunset album. Goood vibes all around

5/5. Funky and Jazzy, rambles from awesome big band blues to more mellow, wandering piano solos. A new favorite. Big horns, jammy piano and lots of hi hats. Feels like Art Blakey with slightly more blues/rock influence.

This was a fun one to explore. Big fan of jazz and while I love my jazz to be “unstructured” from time to time, there is nothing more satisfying than a properly laid out jazz tune. Enjoyable from start to finish.

A great listen, love it!

This is a kick ass jazz album. His connection to Fela Kuti is fascinating as well. Weirdly it reminds me of SimCity 3000 music a bit!

Slick and cool. Not normally my thing (I know little about jazz) but this was an easy and smooth listen. I quite enjoyed Ingoo-Pow-Pow with some vocals. The album had some touching pieces and some uplifting ones. Grab a scotch and let this album play.

What a great feast of music this is

What a great album. It's an amazing blend of jazz with african rhythms and instruments. So glad I found this album and this artist!

Now that's what I call background music. I've been listening to these albums mostly as I do my daily walks, and while this wasn't the best album I've heard so far, it was probably the most enjoyable walk I've had. Energetic but serene, with killer horns, drums and bass, this is exactly what I want to hear out of jazz musicians. You could probably cut a track or two, but at the very least, the ones that feel more like filler make me appreciate the standout deviations more. Key Tracks: Minawa, Maseru, Maesha

Warm, soft jazz perfection-- I can actually feel the waves of calm come over me as I listen to this, it's incredible.

First, double albums are notoriously hard to produce with high levels of quality. There are a handful of 5 star examples ("The Beatles" "London Calling" "1999"). This is a solid 4, and some may say 5, because it changed direction and did something new and important -- the fusion of African and American spiritual/soul into jazz.

Mostly pretty inoffensive light 70s jazz. Much of the material was already sounding a bit dated by 1972. Not as funky and edgy as I would like; kind of early 1960s Miles Davis lite. Very lite. Inner Crisis is the best of the bulk of the album. The real highlight in Ingoo Pow-Pow (Children's Song), which is much more like African music with a jazz inflection. If only the rest of the album was more like that.

Jazz...all the notes played at the same time

This grooves hard as hell! And it’s anti-apartheid?! I’m here for it! Some of the melodies/chord progressions actually remind me a little of Steely Dan, be less white and cheesy. The traditional African stuff mixed with the jazz piano at the end is super cool too.

I used to think jazz was for white men with Art Garfunkel afros who wore burgundy turtlenecks and swirled red wine in a glass presumptuously. Either that or a heroin-addicted black musician who wore shades inside and at any time of the day or night. How wrong I was. Bad jazz is Kenny G or Harry Connick Jr. in an elevator. Good jazz is more than notes on a sheet or sound from a speaker, it’s a feeling, a vibe, a transubstantiation of something intangible into as tangible as music can be. Or whatever. I won’t pretend I ¨get¨ jazz, but I do know what I like and ¨Home is Where the Music Is¨ is a great soundtrack to another morning in the big city. Looking down, seeing the traffic, people walking, the skyline. It paints a picture. Isn’t that what good art is- either painting a picture, taking you out of the moment or making you feel what the artist is feeling? This album does all three. Best songs: ¨Part of a Whole,¨ ¨Inner Crisis,¨ ¨The Big Apple¨

I don't think of myself as a jazz fan... but this site is going to make me one. I don't listen to jazz often and I'm not too familiar with classic records in this genre but so far I've been enjoying most of the jazz records this site is throwing at me. This is another good one.

This album is exactly what I needed to hear at the time that I did. This is a record that takes you through a journey of emotional and geographic artistry. The instrumentation is not over the top, it’s precisely structured that the artists play to each other and never leave an empty void in their sound (even in times of silence). The accompanying keyboard is such a nice addition and shake-up to the traditional piano jazz sound. This is probably one of my favorite jazz records ever, I never want it to stop. Favorite Song: Inner Crisis Least Favorite: Legitimately don’t have one…

Nice and refreshing album. Not my usual style but I wouldn't mind listening to it while reading or working.

South African trumpeter, flugelhornist, cornetist, singer and composer who has been described as "the father of South African jazz". Great living room lounging album.

Elvis never meant shit to me.

Good but a bit too long and repetitive.

Great listen, Hugh played on Graceland with Paul Simon. Slow jazz, perfect for work/study

What an album! it's jazz... but it's world music as well... Masekela, known for his flugelhorn playing and composing... with two African musicians... sax man Dudu Pukwana, and drummer Makhaya Ntshoko... match them with jazz veterans, Larry Willis on piano (Blood, Sweat & Tears, Nat Adderley, Lee Morgan, Jackie McLean, etc), and Eddie Gomez on bass (Bill Evans, Chick Corea, Billy Cobham, and too many more to mention)... bad ass, thought provoking, groovin', interplay... Masekela only wrote one song, "Maseru"... five songs written by Hugh's fellow South African exile, Caiphus Semenya... and a few others... all well crafted... and STIMULATING to listen to... Five Stars!

Home is Where the Music Is My liking for Jazz is definitely increasing in inverse proportion to my disinterest in metal, and I thought this was great. The piano-flugelhorn tandem is fantastic, particularly when it's the electric piano, like on Part of a Whole, Inner Crisis or Maesha, and the drumming is absolutely fantastic, it’s definitely jazzy, but combined with South African rhythms and phrases it gives a brilliant dynamism and variation in tone and feel. Part of a Whole is excellent, it has a great feel, hitting a lovely low key groove, reminding me a bit of Rikki Don’t Lose That Number by Steely Dan, with some great horn and piano interplay. Minawa is excellent too, a great smoky number with some great drumming and The Big Apple continues the superb run of tracks, as does Unhome, the nagging bass and forlorn piano and horns giving it a great, sad, rainy feel. I’m not familiar with Miriam Makeba's original but will check it out Maseru goes a little too jazz-frantic, take the bass for a walk about halfway through, and it is probably the only track I wasn’t keen on, especially as Inner Crisis does a similar thing but better and with a great soul influence, quite Curtis Mayfield-esque. Blues for Huey is perhaps a little too drummy, but there are some great tones and sounds to the recording of it. Nomali is another superb track, the bass is fantastic, kind of loping and stuttering, but keeping things anchored while the piano plays around it. Maesha also has a rainy, soulful feel, the electric piano rippling away a little like Ray Manzarak, before it hits a great up tempo groove. Ingoo Pow-Pow is the most overt display of their South African origins and is great, the tom toms punctuated by the solitary snare and the percussive piano is a superb combination, another excellent track. It was a 4 initially, but it got better and better the more I listened. Apart from Maseru and possibly Blues for Huey, every track is superb, combining piano, rhythms, horns and great production brilliantly, so much so it ends up a 5. 🎹🎹🎹🎹🎹 Playlist submission: Nomali or Part of a Whole, I’ll go with Part of a Whole

Masekela's afrobeat-jazz-funk fusion double album creates such a welcoming sonic home that you'll never want to leave its irresistible grooves, making even a sprawling 76 minutes feel too short.

Beautiful, soulful, uplifting every single second.

another i'd never heard of, and would totally have missed - but holy cow, does this album RIP. there's a lot to love here, but i especially liked the panning of the drums at the very end of the last track. it was the best kind of unnecessary.

I love the joy and simple purpose of each groove. A deceptively simple album. Enjoyable, joyful, fun. Harder to pull off than it seems. A few songs drag a bit for me, but otherwise dug it.

I’m 223 albums in, and the biggest revelation so far is how much I’ve enjoyed the jazz albums. This was no exception - I especially loved the funkier tracks like Inner Crisis.

Generating a jazz album doesn't excite me. Generating a double jazz album REALLY doesn't excite me. However, I really quite enjoyed this (in fact I listened to it twice!). I appreciate the variety, with every musician getting tracks where they get to shine.

Maybe it's just the fact that I'm lying in bed on a sunny Oxford spring morning and enjoying some nostalgia literature while I listen to this, but yeah, I'm Extremely digging this

I just pulled an Elf: "I know him! I know him!" LOL. I met him once at my old job. He and his whole group was nice and he included me in the pre show song circle :)

Exactly the beta blocker some of us needed today.

Perfect soundtrack on a slow Sunday afternoon with a coffee and a book.

Super solid jazz/funk/soul record with a touch of Afro-Beat thrown into the mix. Very reminiscent of similar era Crusaders, Mizell brothers, George Duke, Herbie Hancock, Headhunters and so forth. As good as anything in this vein from any of those artists and the era in general. You can play this as background music, or you can really dig in and listen to the musicianship. Either way is rewarding. Also check the horns on ‘Inner Crisis’ that Theo Parrish sampled.

T'as un peu commencé à m'agacer sur la fin mais je t'en tiens pas rigueur.

I actually really liked to work to this. Lots of character in his playing.

If i had friends I'd play it at a dinner party

Good chill jazz!

Hugh Masekela is a giant of the African jazz scene. This record exemplifies this, with tons of character and dynamics. No two songs sound the same and the 70 minute run through is a breeze. Best Tracks: - Maesha Worst Tracks: N/A Rating: 7/10

good jazz music, great for feeling like chuck mcgill

This is comfortable, familiar and long, like an amiable work Christmas party conversation that, despite similar will on both sides, neither of you can bring to stop, though you are really very tired and just want a slice of cold pizza and to go home.

Mostly pretty inoffensive light 70s jazz. Not as funky and edgy as I would like; kind of Miles Davis lite. Very lite. Inner Crisis is the best of the bulk of the album. The real highlight in Ingoo pow-Pow (children's Song), which is much more like African music with a jazz inflection. If only the album was more liek that.

Nothing particularly bad about this album. Also nothing I would call exceptionally good. Just some easy listening music I suppose.

Despite it being jazz, I quite liked it. Nice and easy to listen to, good rhythms and flow.

Make the jazz noises stop. I was going to give a bonus star for some enjoyable Afro beat influenced passes, then it went on for another hour.

Not my cup of tea.

I imagine 5 grown adults telling each other to “play around” and “get creative” with their instruments. jazz hands ptsd

With all the freedom jazz is supposed to offer its players, why do so many of them play such safe, unruffled, unchallenging music? Of course, the music of authoratarianism is safe in entirely different ways: it follows the rules and expresses nothing other than the rules. And this album, while unadventurous, is certainly chilled out, not anxious. It’s not watching over its shoulder. In fact, it very patently doesn’t care what I or anybody else thinks. Perhaps, for a black South African musician under Apartheid, freedom sounds exactly like a smooth, unhurried jam around familiar changes, with players too happy in the centre of the circle to push at the boundaries. Fair play to them. 1.5 I thought this was really poor. Plenty of dazzle but no distinctiveness from the musicians. Musically, this was a hodgepodge of styles - bit of Sunday brunch here, a cop show theme there, bit of afrobeat - each explored to, at least, much more memorable effect elsewhere on this list. The themes were rotten, the improv was forgettable. A miscellany of mediocrity. And 76 minutes? When an artist has nothing to say, surely it can be said in less than an hour? 1/5

Part Of A Whole - 2/10: I don't like instrumental songs. Minawa - 2/10: Same as the last song. The Big Apple - I don't like instrumental songs. Unhomé - Same as the last song. Maseru - 3/10: The end isn't terrible. Inner Crisis - 2/10: I don't like instrumental songs. Blues for Huey - 2/10: Same as the last song. Nomali - 2/10: I don't like instrumental songs. Maesha - 2/10: Same as the last song Ingoo Pow-Pow - 2/10: I don't like instrumental songs. Overall Score: 21/100 Overall Rating: 2/10 - I just don't really enjoy instrumental songs, and I found the album quite boring.

It’s a good album no doubt, just not my flavour.

I hate jazz Goofy ah trumpets

01) Part Of A Whole - 4,5 02) Minawa - 4,0 03) The Big Apple - 4,0 04) Unhome - 3,5 05) Maseru - 4,0 06) Inner Crisis - 6,5 07) Blues For Huey - 4,0 08) Nomali - 5,0 09) Maesha - 4,0 10) Ingoo Pow-Pow (Children's Song) - 4,0 TOTAL: 4,35 (44/100) Current ranking: 329/340 Jazz is sooooo fu**ing boring... I really don't understand people who like this kind of music. What do you see in this? Or, a better question, what do you hear in this? Does this make sense to you? Do you hear a melody? Anything? I'm lost, this music makes me nervous... Song number 6 sounds familiar and not too irritating. Someone must have sampled it somewhere...

Jazz is my reminder that my music tastes aren't as diverse as I think they are. This is painful to listen to.

Vraiment, vraiment, j'essaye, mais le jazz c'est pas mon truc

no jazz pls

boring

JAZZZZZZ

Part of a whole so freaking good wowow love

Fire!

I am not a jazz enthusiast. so my opinions are naive (at best). But I'm glad I listened to this. More importantly, I enjoyed. Again, I will be delving into my regularly prompted "What jazz albums do I need to have/buy/listen to...because I'm an ignorant indie listener....". So on that note, 5 "embarrassed/ignorant" stars.

This is something really special — I’ve never been so thoroughly blown away by a jazz record before. The interplay between the horns and the piano as the drum and bass provide the background for each track’s progression gives me the chance to enjoy each instrument individually and how they blend together. Sometimes I feel like jazz loses the plot, but these compositions feel extremely grounded while still leaving room for experimentation, playfulness, and emotion. I wasn’t bothered by the length because I was too excited and interested to see what the album would give me next. If there’s a weak spot for me, it’s really just the last song being a bit too chaotic. My dad always told me jazz was the superior music and he thought I’d come around in time. I wish I could share this listening experience with him. Brilliant stuff.

Nice surprise

First introduced to Hugh Masekela when I saw Paul Simon’s Graceland tour in the 80s and have LPs such as Tomorrow, Techno-Bush, Waiting for the Rain and his later LP collaboration with Tony Allen. However have never heard this before and it’s brilliant. Lovely township jazz crossover and with the fantastic Dudu Pukwana too. Will be playing this a lot more.

Solid groove. Solid jazz.

Great great jazz album. A revelation for me.

Fantastic album. I’d never heard this artist before, and I really enjoyed the blend of styles and the variety of songs, all infused with those African touches. It honestly feels like I can now imagine what a part of Africa sounds like

A new favorite jazz album

bring back long albums !!!!!! this is peak

The Best álbum Ever creat

very cool

Excelente!! Um jazz excelente, contagiante!

ES UN MIL

Absolutely incredible record

Jazz de pana pa caminar en otoño después de una lluvia, la calle se veía tan poética con este álbum de fondo. Creo que fue el momento perfecto. Igual me puso horny kfkdkf

Bliss

amazing jazz album

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I wish I had heard of this artist and this album long before today. I have enjoyed the jazz that I have listened to before and due to this list, but this is thus far my favorite jazz album. The music is beautiful and for lack of a better word "peppy" but that is not to say that this is easy listening or background music. There is a lot going on musically but this manages to maintain a coherence. Wonderful album.

la trompeta uffff

It truly is.

As someone who needs something new on a regular basis to function properly, this album gave me just that this morning. Positive and fresh vibes

Goddamn this album title is so true and it delivers with some gas jazz piano and trumpeting. These songs never get too repetitive and have driving energy that really feels infectious. Wonderful stuff all the way through it all just grows and becomes even more beautiful.

Anything by this artist is exceptional. His music is quite unique and very enjoyable.

‘What do you mean you hate jazz?’

Énorme coup de coeur pour le solo de batterie

Muy bueno.....super recomendada 👌 👍🏻 😉

This was the jazz album that I have been looking for ages

Hugh Masekela – Home Is Where The Music Is (1972) On Day 110, I found a project that never failed to deliver. It was exactly what I intended it to be: a great fusion of Jazz and Afrobeat that feels powerful and grounded. The musicianship is top-tier, and the production is immaculate throughout the double-LP. I was drawn closest to "Minawa," "Maesha," and "Nomali." These tracks showcase a vocal triumph through the instruments that made the whole experience feel blessed. This is a high-level body of work that I can definitely guarantee I’ll be returning to. A definitive 5/5.

I love this album. Have enjoyed it on vinyl many times. The instruments are all so pronounced and smooth. Sax makes me happy.

I wasn’t wrong. Fantastic jazz album. Muchas de las canciones me recuerdan al estilo de Hisaishi para la musica de Ghibli. Truly delicious. 5/5

Easy 5

Absolutely Fantastic, Great grooves, wonderful atmosphere

The playing on this album is so ridiculously clean it killed every single germ in my body. Gave me immunodeficiency, but it was worth it!!!