From Granada Hoy
With a full house, the musician Abdullah Ibrahim won the Jazz Festival on the Coast, the summer event in Almuñécar. Moments before his speech, he was honored with the city’s medal, from the mayor, Juan José Ruiz Joya, the Councilor for Culture, Alberto García Gilabert, as well as different representatives of the Sexitan City Council, and he unveiled the tile with his signature on the Bulevar del Jazz, a private walk of fame that has the signatures of great artists from the jazz scene such as Enrico Rava, Chano Domínguez, Chucho Valdés, Eliane Elias, Javier Colina, Kenny Barron, among others.
He is a pioneer of jazz on the African continent, his group The Jazz Epistles, which included trumpeter Hugh Masakela, was the first black group to record an LP in South Africa, Jazz Epistle Verse One (1960). His first steps internationally were guided by Duke Ellington, who sponsored the Duke Ellington Presents The Dollar Brand Trio album (1963) for the Reprise label. Since then Abdullah Ibrahim’s career, both as a group and solo, has been universally acclaimed.
He has been part of the New York jazz avant-garde along with Elvin Jones, John Coltrane, Don Cherry, Ornette Coleman and Paharoa Sanders, and he was a pioneer of jazz in the 1980s with his American band Ekaya.
During the medal presentation, the mayor of Almuñécar, Juan José Ruiz Joya, highlighted the “pride” of having his figure in the city, a “living history of jazz”, as well as “being a person who is very committed to human rights. As mayor, it is an honor to present the city’s medal to a reference like him”.
For his part, the Councilor for Culture, Alberto García Gilabert, explains that they are “very happy” after 36 editions of a “very special” festival that “allows us to enjoy great artists from the jazz scene”, is “a benchmark in the cultural agenda of the entire province, it is the third most important festival in Spain along with San Sebastián and Bilbao, so it is an honor”.
In the case of Abdullah Ibrahim’s performance, he points out that it is one of the few concerts that he will give in Europe, so “it is a privilege.” “Few can say that the great stars of the Jazz world have passed through their municipality, after 36 years we can say that a large number of artists have passed through here, and in many cases even repeating, shows that they like what we offer and the very special atmosphere that is created between the public and the artist in El Majuelo Park”.