| Colonial Man | |
| Type: | studio |
| Artist: | Hugh Masekela |
| Cover: | Colonial Man - album cover.jpg |
| Border: | yes |
| Released: | 30 January 1976 |
| Recorded: | c. 1975–76 in New York and Chicago |
| Studio: | Capricorn Studios (New York), Good Vibrations Studios (New York), The Hit Factory (New York), Regent Sound (New York), Curtom Studios (Chicago) |
| Genre: | Jazz |
| Label: | Casablanca NBLP-7023 |
| Producer: | Hugh Masekela |
| Prev Title: | The Boy's Doin' It |
| Prev Year: | 1975 |
| Next Title: | Melody Maker |
| Next Year: | 1976 |
Colonial Man is the eighteenth studio album by South African trumpeter Hugh Masekela.[1] It was recorded in New York and Chicago and released on LP[2] and eight-track cassette[3] on 30 January 1976 via the Casablanca Records label.[4] [5] The album's title song "Colonial Man", "Vasco Da Gama" and "Cecil Rhodes" express African anti-colonial sentiments.[6] At the time of its release, it was referred to variously by reviewers as a concept album[7] and a protest album.[8]
A reviewer of Dusty Groove wrote: "A later album from Hugh Masekela – but still plenty darn hip, way more so than most of the other artists on the Casablanca label at the time! Hugh's South African groove is still very firmly in place here – mixed with a slightly warmer LA soul sound, but expanded with loads of great arrangements that get a lot more complicated than before – and which bring in some great keyboard and percussion bits. Sivuca makes a wonderful appearance on 1st and 3rd tracks – using that blend of voice and accordion that sounds so great – and the whole record's got a depth and sense of soul that you'd never guess from silly title and cover!"[9]
As of 2018, the album has not been released in its entirety on CD or as digital downloads. Compositions "Colonial Man" and "A Song for Brazil" were re-released on CD in 1998 on Verve Records as part of The Boy's Doin' It. "A Song for Brazil", "Colonial Man" and "Witch Doctor" feature on the 2018 posthumous compilation of original recordings: Masekela '66–'76.[10]