| The Promise of a Future | |
| Type: | studio |
| Artist: | Hugh Masekela |
| Cover: | Hugh Masekela - The Promise of a Future.jpg |
| Border: | yes |
| Released: | 1968 |
| Recorded: | 12–14 March 1968 |
| Studio: | Gold Star (Hollywood, California) |
| Genre: | Jazz |
| Length: | 29:57 |
| Label: | Uni Records 73028 |
| Producer: | Stewart Levine |
| Prev Title: | Hugh Masekela Is Alive and Well at the Whisky |
| Prev Year: | 1967 |
| Next Title: | Africa '68 |
| Next Year: | 1968 |
The Promise of a Future is the eighth studio album by South African jazz musician Hugh Masekela released via Uni Records label.[1] It was recorded in March 1968 in Los Angeles, California.[2] [3] The album was re-released on CD in 1993 on One Way label. The Promise of a Future features Masekela's version of a famous instrumental composition "Grazing in the Grass".
A reviewer of Dusty Groove stated: "Classic work from Hugh Masekela – and the album that pushed him over the top! The record features his version of 'Grazin In The Grass', a runaway instrumental hit when it was issued – and a sly little groover that was based upon some earlier South African pop melodies that Hugh copped from his roots. The group's a tight little quintet with Al Abreu on tenor and soprano sax, William Henderson on piano, Chuck Carter on drums, and Henry Franklin on bass."[4] A reviewer of Billboard added: "Fluent in any musical lingo, Masekela and his crowd should sample all the charts before settling down."[5]