NEWCASTLE City Hall has seldom seen anything quite like it. A rapturous audience swinging and swaying in a supercharged atmosphere generated by jazz scion Hugh Masekela and the formidable Jazz Jamaica All Stars. The special event marking the tenth anniversary of South African democracy warmed up with the Jazz Jamaica All Stars pumping out energy, with some blazing solo work from trumpet, trombone and saxaphone.

South Africa's enduring musical ambassador then served up a heady mix of township jazz and political lyrics. Works by Abdullah Ibrahim and Caiphus Semenya were given his inimitable treatment, with his flugelhorn dripping notes mellifluous of honey, swooning and screeching, with scintillating runs up and down the scales. At first, exclamations of approval from compatriots in the audience added to the ambience, but then threatened to ruin it, as it started to sound like a market place conversation. "Some people don't know the struggle is over", Masekela remarked, before diplomatically telling them to Tula! (keep quiet).

They would have been blasted away during the second half anyway, as soul queen Juliet Roberts joined in with powerhouse renditions of Bob Marley numbers, including One Love and No Woman No Cry. Masekela was in good voice as well; his gravelly gruff tones enriching the earthiness of the performance.

A highlight was Masekela's tribute to migrant labourers making their way to gold mines in the work Stimela, or Train Song, which dramatises the plight of workers forced into the pain of long separation from their families. Evoking the huffing and puffing of a train and simulating the shrill train whistle, it made the goose bumps stand up. The evening would have been incomplete without Bring Him Back Home, which became an anthem of the Free Nelson Mandela movement. Everyone left feeling showered with magic. A simply unforgettable evening in the presence of a true master.

Published: 02/07/2004