252. Hugh Masekela | Home Is Where the Music Is (1972)

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Tracks

1. Part Of A Whole
2. Minawa
3. The Big Apple
4. Uhomé
5. Maseru
6. Inner Crisis
7. Blues For Huey
8. Nomali
9. Maesha
10. Ingoo Pow-Pow (Children's Song)

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Home Is Where the Music Is is a soothing album. The music is jazz. The music is performed by a five-piece group, comprising of three South Africans and two Americans. That's interesting because of the possibilities of inflecting jazz with music from another culture.

And looking at the exotic titles for some of the pieces would suggest that Hugh Masekela is bringing in musical styles from his native South Africa. Perhaps that's what's responsible for the strong melodies since the jazz that they're doing is certainly more melodic that the jazz from artists previously featured on this list. If the influences are manifesting themselves in other ways, I can't tell, though.

This is a good album, but it's a little longer than it needs to be. Like I've said before: since the 1001 Albums list is primarily a list of rock albums from the US, UK and Canada, it's unnecessary for jazz albums and music from artists outside those countries to appear on this list. This album belongs to both categories, so there's two reasons for it not to be on the list. I think it's worth listening to, especially for those who enjoy jazz.

All the songs are good and are fairly equal in quality. All, or at least most, have a strong melody that makes it interesting and compelling to listen to. I'll leave it at that.

★★★★★★★★★☆