GIG: HUGH MASEKELA

Kirk Douglas inspired him to pick up a trumpet; Louis Armstrong sent him his own piece of brass; Dizzie Gillespie got him into the Manhattan School Of Music; Bob Marley liked the way he fluttered his fingers over a flugelhorn. This impressive little black book belongs to trumpeter Hugh Masekela, aka the Sound Of South Africa, who has offered his signature fusion of Afro beat, jazz, mbaqanga and funk as an anti-apartheid anthem for over 50 years. Despite pushing 71, Masekela steps onto the stage with the same vitality he had as a teen. And as the good people at The Telegraph, UK say: “he sings with wild abandon; he sent trumpet lines plunging and soaring; he cajoled the audience.” For one night, Masekela and his five-piece will fill the Concert Hall with shouts, clap-alongs, cheers and many a bleary eye as he brings the sorrows and joys of South Africa to the Sydney Opera House.

Oct 6, 8pm, Concert Hall, Sydney Opera House, $60-99, 9250 7777 or sydneyoperahouse.com