Melody Maker (Hugh Masekela album)

Melody Maker is the nineteenth studio album by South African musician Hugh Masekela.^[1] It was recorded in Silver Spring, Maryland, and Fairfax, Virginia, and released in 1976 via Casablanca Records label.^[2][3] Songs "Toejam" and "Hi-Life" were re-released on CD in 1998 on Verve Records as part of The Boy's Doin' It album.

Melody Maker
Studio album by Hugh Masekela
Released	1976
Recorded	c. 1976 in
Studio	D & B Studios (Silver Spring, Maryland) American Star Studios (Fairfax, Virginia)
Genre	Jazz
Label	Casablanca NBLP-7036
Producer	Hugh Masekela, Stewart Levine
Hugh Masekela chronology
Colonial Man (1975) Melody Maker (1976) You Told Your Mama Not to Worry (1977)

Reception

A reviewer of Dusty Groove stated: "Hats off to Hugh Masekela – one of the few artists who could record for the Casablanca label and never manage to lose his own sense of sound and spirit! The album's a surprisingly great one, filled with the kinds of subtle touches and earthy soul we've always loved in Hugh's music – certainly a bit more polished than before, given the date of the record, but still filled with some really personal, individual moments. The set begins with a beautiful long instrumental titled 'Hi Life' – with Hugh blowing a long, lean solo over the top of a mellow groove – then it moves into a range of shorter numbers, both vocal and instrumental, including the funk track 'Toe Jam', plus the cuts 'Come On Home', 'Melodi', 'I'll Make You Feel Alright', 'Melody Maker', and 'Dance'."^[4]

Track listing

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
1.	"Hi-Life"	Adaloja Gboyega, Hugh Masekela, Yaw Opoku	9:34
2.	"The Best of My Love"	Don Henley, Glenn Frey, JD Souther	3:12
3.	"Melody Maker"	Hugh Masekela	3:36
4.	"Dance"	Stanley Todd, Hugh Masekela	3:00
5.	"Toejam"	Hugh Masekela, Yaw Opoku, Jagger Niisai Botchway	4:30
6.	"I'll Make You Feel Alright"	Stanley Todd	3:04
7.	"Come on Home"	Hugh Masekela	4:15
8.	"Melodi"	Hugh Masekela	3:10

Personnel

• Isaak Asante – percussion^[5]
• Richard Neesai Botchway – guitar
• Eka-Ete – vocals
• Adaloja Gboyega – composer, keyboards
• Stewart Levine – engineer, producer
• Hugh Masekela – composer, horn, producer
• Yaw Opoku – bass, composer
• Papa Frankie Todd – drums
• Stanley Todd – guitar, organ, vocals