HUGH Masekela, who sounds like the biggest con when he says that he is 70 years old, will celebrate this milestone with a performance with the London Symphony Orchestra in London on Thursday, December 10.

HUGH Masekela, who sounds like the biggest con when he says that he is 70 years old, will celebrate this milestone with a performance with the London Symphony Orchestra in London on Thursday, December 10.

Set to take place at the Barbican Hall at 7.30pm, the concert will showcase Masekela's skills and prowess on the trumpet.

The programme includes urban folk songs and works by leading young jazz musician and composer Jason Yarde, Rude Awakening and All Souls Seek Joy as well as music that reflects Masekela's love for his own country.

Young composer Andrew McCormack's Incentive will also perform and, along with All Souls Seek Joy. He was commissioned through the London Symphony Orchestra (LSO) Discovery Panufnik Young Composers Scheme.

François-Xavier Roth conducts the LSO and St Luke's Community Choir.

"At the end of the evening, the audience stood and sang the world's loveliest national anthem, Nkosi Sikelel' iAfrika, rearranged as a rousing choral suite. This was no longer just another concert.

It was a moment in time and place that could not be replicated, only remembered," wrote Simon Jenkins in The Guardian after Masekela's last appearance with the LSO in 2007.

Back home Masekela is one of the most popular trumpeters. He has succeeded in straddling the age divide, dishing one hit after another with each release. Equally exciting is his ability to harness youngsters, collaborate with them and still drop a crossover masterpiece.