Hugh Masekela

Hugh Masekela at Koerner Hall in Toronto

The reigning king of African jazz-funk, Hugh Masekela, held court at Koerner Hall in Toronto on Saturday night. It was a subdued start to the evening as the trumpeter and his five-piece backing band opened with a series of breezy, mid-tempo grooves. It wasn’t until after the fourth tune that the band started to break a sweat and Masekela chose to speak to the audience. But I guess when you’re 71 you’re entitled to take a while to warm up.

When he did speak to the crowd he joked with us, chided us for being too quiet, told stories from his childhood and preached about gratitude. His singing–which he did a surprising amount of–was raw, full-throated and gravelly, in sharp contrast to his flugelhorn playing which was very controlled; soft and sweet one minute, clear and commanding the next.

Masekela is best known for his huge hit from the late 60s, “Groovin’ in the Grass,” and since then hasn’t had a lot of North American radio play for his solo work, but has guested and toured with headliners such as Paul Simon. But he has been steadily working in South Africa, collaborating with and mentoring musicians there, protesting the political situation through music and regularly releasing records.

Once the band got going there was no stopping them as they played for over two and half hours, eventually getting the whole audience on its feet clapping, singing and celebrating along. The guitarist Cameron Ward got most of the spotlight when Masekela took a breather, as he alternated between iconic African sounds and wailing, distorted solos on his Stratocaster. Every band member got a little solo time to showcase their style, but the band’s strength was as a unit as they laid down solid, funky grooves enabling Masekela to stretch out and take us again and again on vocal, spoken word and instrumental adventures.

Yo-Yo Ma to open Koerner Hall’s 2010.11 season

It’s a nice problem to have when renowned international musicians are clamouring to play in your concert venue and according to Mervon Mehta, The Royal Conservatory’s Executive Director of Performing Arts, no less than Yo-Yo Ma was one of the clamourers. As announced today, Ma will be opening Koerner’s second season on October 14 accompanied by Katherine Scott.

Lobby of Koerner Hall in Toronto

And that’s not an anomaly – the whole season is crammed with exciting acts, both popular and a little more obscure. The 2010-11 line-up also spans a number of genres, sometimes in the same night. Trumpeter Hugh Masekela, who straddles jazz and world music categories, pays a rare visit to Toronto in October 2010, Swedish mezzo-soprano, Anne Sofie von Otter, will team up with American jazz pianist Brad Mehldau in February and the legendary Allen Toussaint, trumpeter Nicholas Payton, and The Joe Krown Trio, will transport the audience into the sultry soul of the Big Easy in a concert titled New Orleans Nights.

For jazz fans, surely the highlight of the season will be a five-night series honouring the late Oscar Peterson called “Aspects of Oscar.” The first of the five concerts, Oscar’s Songbooks, has been put together by bassist Dave Young, who frequently worked with Peterson. McCoy Tyner and Monty Alexander will also headline the concert series.

Dave Young, Robi Botos, and Reg Schwager play RCM press conference

In its first year Koerner Hall managed to build a reputation as both a musician’s and audience member’s dream concert hall from an acoustics standpoint, and a place to see top-notch music from a range of genres. It was a tough act to follow, but The RCM looks like it won’t be a flash in the musical pan and has become a major player in the Toronto cultural scene. Lucky us.