African Market - Abdullah Ibrahim

"I expect from my musicians the same things that I demand from myself," says pianist-composer Abdullah Ibrahm. "They must love the music and be totally honest in their playing. The main point is to find your own voice and translate it into music." Abdullah Ibrahim has had his own style ever since he left his native South Africa in 1962. A masterful player who often pays homage to Duke Ellington and Thelonious Monk, Ibrahim (who was known as Dollar Brand before he converted to Islam in late 1969) creates music that contains highly personal melodies, a near hypnotic use of repetition, dynamic jazz improvisations and emotional diversity ranging from utter peace to religious fervor, reflecting Ibrahim's unique life. Born in Capetown, South Africa in 1934, Abdullah Ibrahim started on the piano as a child. "The earliest music that I remember hearing was the traditional songs at home and the music of the church. On a social level, there were all types of African music and as I got older, jazz was all around me." The youth earned the nickname Dollar because he always seemed to be carrying around dollars to buy the latest jazz albums from visiting American sailors. In 1962, Ibrahim found the conditions in South Africa so intolerable that he and his wife, singer Sathima Bea Benjamin, moved to Switzerland. When Duke Ellington came through Zurich on a tour, he listened to Ibrahim's trio and was so impressed that he sponsored the pianists first trio recording and was also responsible for Ibrahim appearing at the 1965 Newport Jazz Festival. Other than six months playing with the Elvin Jones Quartet, Ibrahim has been a bandleader. He moved to New York in 1972 and he and his piano has been heard in settings ranging from solo to big band around the globe but most recently with a medium sized group similar to the one heard on the Mindif album. An eloquent spokesman and deeply religious, Ibrahim's beliefs and experiences are reflected in his music, yet there are no signs of bitterness or defeatism; instead it relates joy and optimism tempered by realism. Ibrahim has written the soundtracks for a number of films, including the award winning Chocolat and, more recently, No Fear, No Die. Since the end of apartheid, he has lived in Cape Town, and now divides his time between his global concert circuit, New York, and South Africa. He also took part in the 2002 documentary Amandla!: A Revolution in Four-Part Harmony, where he and others recalled the days of apartheid.

Category:

Music

Tags:

• Abdullah Ibrahim
• Mindif
• African Market

[miss3v3lyn]

Beautiful!

[lanscot]

This is my favorite version of this song, for it's exuberance, it's playfulness, & the background sounds evoking the marketplace.

[joehiggs100]

Thank you, a great tune by ground breaking players and expressive pictures, shared!

[oelvang]

hej er det ikke et fedt nummer?

[musicman365]

Inspiring!!!!!!!!!!

[swuzzups]

@njplr Yes, it should be available under the title "Mindif". It only took me about two minutes to find that info via an internest search. Sometimes wikipedia is your friend.

[njplr]

Enjoyed this, thank you for posting. Do you know, though, if the version of this that is in Chocolat is available somewhere?

[yetholm1]

absolutely inspiring - really happy music!!!