Abdullah Ibrahim is not just a
jazz pianist. When one thinks "jazz pianist", one thinks of
Thelonious Monk and
Oscar Peterson, or
Fats Waller and
Jelly Roll Morton; Ibrahim is something altogether different.
Born
Adolphe Johannes Brand in
Capetown,
South Africa on October 9th 1934, Ibrahim was introduced to the
piano at the age of seven. Calling himself
Dollar Brand, the young pianist began playing in
church and later in a
hometown group called the
Jazz Epistles. Ibrahim became a
professional musician at the age of sixteen with the
Tuxedo Slickers and later, the
Willie Max Big Band, before recording South Africa's first ever jazz
album in 1960.
After fleeing South Africa with vocalist and future-wife
Sathima Bea Benjamin in 1962 due to
apartheid, Ibrahim remained in
Zurich. The great
Duke Ellington discovered the Dollar Brand
trio playing at the
Africana club and immediately arranged for recording sessions. In 1963 and the following year, the Dollar Brand trio performed at major
European festivals and radio events. Since then, Ibrahim (who changed his name when he
converted to
Islam in the late '60s) has been a
bandleader and pianist until the present, with various
tours and many, many
albums. Ibrahim has won awards for
composition,
performance and even
soundtrack, including the
score for the film
Chocolat.
What makes Abdullah Ibrahim different to most other jazz pianists is his
heritage, the influences that have shaped him as a musician. The
African spiritual and
religious songs that he learnt as a child are often echoed in his music, which has an
exotic and powerful
flavour as a result. The
fusion of traditional African sound and
African-American piano jazz creates Ibrahim's
unique and
refreshingly different style. I recommend his music to everyone that enjoys
jazz and all things
mellow.
Download some today!
This discography may be incomplete.
Albums:
Africa: Tears and Laughter
African Dawn
African Marketplace
African Piano
African Portraits
African River
African Sketchbook
African Suite
Ancient Africa
Anthems for the New Nation
Banyana: The Children Of Africa
Black Lightning
Capetown Flowers
Capetown Fringe
Capetown Revisited
Desert Flower
Duke Ellington Presents the Dollar Brand Trio
Echoes From Africa
Ekapa Ludumo
Fats, Duke & the Monk
Good News From Africa
Jazz Epistles: Verse I
Journey
Knysna Blue
No Fear, No Die
Ode to Duke Ellington
Reflections
Round Midnight at the Montmartre
Sangoma
South Africa
Soundtrack From Chocolat
Soweto
Streams of Consciousness
The Mountain
The Pilgrim
Very Best Of Abdullah Ibrahim
Water From An Ancient Well
Yarona
Zimababwe
Compilations:
Rough Guide To South African Jazz
Smooth Africa
Soundtrack
Unwired Africa
Sources:
www.jazze.com
www.downbeat.com
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