Artist Profile, Abdullah Ibrahim - For A Few Dollars More...

Not many musicians have the ability to capture their homeland’s essence like Abdullah Ibrahim. Throughout his musical career, the South African-born pianist has embodied the proud spirit of the rainbow nation and its multicultural influences through the boldness of his playing.

Despite the numerous stylistic changes global jazz has gone through over the past half-century, Ibrahim’s music has consistently maintained a link to the past; most notably, the traditional music of Cape Town or ‘Cape Jazz’ – at times, blending the urban sounds of local street parades with gospel and even Eastern ragas, all coloured by the improvisatory ethos of post-bop jazz imported from America.

Prior to his religious conversion which saw him change his name at the tail-end of the sixties, Ibrahim had performed under the moniker ‘Dollar Brand’ (a play on his birth name, Adolph Johannes Brand). He first broke onto the scene in the 1950s as part of the Jazz Epistles, a bebop group that would be one of the first to bring the wild new styles of Charlie Parker and Dizzy Gillespie to astounded audiences and the first group of black jazz musicians to cut a record in South Africa.

As social conditions became increasingly difficult under apartheid, Ibrahim left South Africa in 1962 with his partner, South African jazz singer Sathima Bea Benjamin, whom he would later marry. Following this mass exodus of musicians from their native land, the couple headed to Zurich, where Dollar Brand found work as a club pianist. This migration would ultimately prove to be fruitful, as Ibrahim would end up being recorded by Duke Ellington in Paris in a move that would effectively launch his international career. It was the influence of pivotal American figures such as Duke, Monk and Coltrane that would inspire the pianist’s fearlessly resilient musical voice. Following this period, he would resettle in New York. Whilst jazz was already regarded as a form of resistance music, Dollar Brand's own personal story of being driven into exile rendered the stakes even higher. His anthemic compositions would provide a musical backdrop to the restless struggles of the time, both at home and abroad.

In light of this turbulent period, Dollar Brand sought to reconcile his burgeoning spirituality within the ill-tempered world. It was upon converting to Islam that the musician would achieve the freedom from persecution that, for so many of his compatriots, was still an everyday reality. Returning to South Africa only for brief periods in order to record, the freshly-dubbed Ibrahim began to incorporate themes of the persecution he witnessed around him directly into his music with an optimistic sense of overcoming. 

In further affirmations of his own valid culture, Ibrahim's has explored notions Zen philosophy, with many of his best-loved recordings featuring extended solo performances of deep, open-ended questioning. Ibrahim has been expanding as an artist even before the end of apartheid - his many years of cultural activism and resistance would culminate in his appearance at Nelson Mandela's inauguration in 1994. Now, at 88, he prefers to lead from his piano stool whilst his interplay is delicately-considered and sparse. As you listen to his latest album, you will instantly pick up on the maestro's presence as he proudly oversees the live musical affair. The setlist contains all the influences he has carried since his career's inception: Ellington's 'In A Sentimental Mood', Coltrane's 'Giant Steps' and Monk's 'Skippy'. But, we'll leave the last work to Kevin LeGendre, who was there himself: "...in the interim it is Ibrahim’s originals that take pride of place, showing how, since the '60s, he has been creating standards of his own that vividly capture the poised dignity of African culture and customs."