South African trumpeter Hugh Masekela is known in America for two
things: the instrumental “Grazing in the Grass,” which reached number
one on the Billboard chart in 1968, and his work with Paul Simon
on Graceland. Masekela, however, is a god in black
Africa. And only a god could capture the essence of the 20th-century
black African experience in one song: “Stimela (Coal Train).”
“This train carries young and old, African men/Who are conscripted to
come and work on contract/In the golden mineral mines of
Johannesburg…” There is no heart “Stimela” cannot break.
(Jazz Alley, 2033 Sixth Ave, 441-9729. 7:30 pm, $32.50, all
ages.)

Charles Mudede—who writes about film, books, music, and his life in Rhodesia, Zimbabwe, the USA, and the UK for The Stranger—was born near a steel plant in Kwe Kwe, Zimbabwe. He has no memory...