"I think everybody goes into music loving it," South African trumpeter Hugh Masekela told The Guardian last year. Maybe that's surprising for a septuagenarian who lived through apartheid and whose music often explores emancipatory themes. But Masekela's rich mix of harmonies and rhythms, anchored by vivacious melodies, reflects that outlook, with the once-oppressed finding inspiration in something the oppressor can never curb. —Grayson Currin