As a child, I used to think Louis ml Armstrong, Bessie Smith, Nat 'King' Cole, Johnny Hodges, Frank Sinatra were living inside that gramophone,” Hugh Masekela wrote in an essay on his life in music. “My uncle would wind it up and play it to me, and I used to say 'hello' to them all." And as a 13-year-old in South Africa in the early 1950s, he said, seeing Kirk Douglas playing the lead in Young Man with a Horn (based on the life of Bix Beiderbecke, with trumpet parts played by Harry James) made him to decide to likewise blow. Like more than a few of his fellow "world music" performers, Masekela grew up by circumstance at the crossroads of cultures; some others have placed themselves there by choice; ether way, the results can be music that's captivating and new. And then there are those who stick to their roots, captivatingly old-school.

Masekela's triumphs include playing with Louis Armstrong, George Clinton, Paul Simon and Fela Kuti; writing a key song for the "Free Nelson Mandela" movement; and topping American pop charts with South African-tinged jazz with "Grazing in the Grass," nearly 40 years ago. Such experiences and his political engagement make him an ideal headliner and keynoter for the Concert of Colors extravaganza, which was founded 14 years ago by ACCESS and New Detroit. He’ll speak to an invitation-only forum on "community, culture and race" during the day Friday and perform with his band at the main stage at 9:30 that night.

Concert of Colors runs Thursday through Sunday at the Max M. Fisher Music Center, 3711 Woodward Ave., Detroit; 313-576-5111. Thursday night's 8 p.m. opening performance is conducting is a Detroit Symphony Orchestra program celebrating the colorful rhythms and melodies found in the dance music of Spain and Latin America. See concertofcolors.com.