11 Sep 2019
Abdullah Ibrahim review – 50 dazzling years of jazz distilled
Performing solo, the 84-year-old South African pianist treats melody with reverence – then instinctively, skilfully dismantles it....
22 Aug 2019
JazzTimes 10: Essential Dollar Brand/Abdullah Ibrahim Recordings
Ten pieces, in chronological order, that document the NEA Jazz Master's musical journey....
16 Aug 2019
Abdullah Ibrahim aka Dollar Brand: The Balance
Ibrahim says on a short note on the back cover of this LP “We push ourselves out of our comfort zones”. Later he says “Technically it’s very, very skilled but there’s a simplicity in the complexity so that people can relate to it. It’s a...
7 Aug 2019
South African jazz musician Abdullah Ibrahim returns with The Balance
South African composer and pianist Abdullah Ibrahim, formerly known as Dollar Brand, is now in his 84th year. For at least 60 of those years, he has been a jazz musician. With a long and impressive career already behind him, Ibrahim continues to record and...
2 Aug 2019
South African piano guru Abdullah Ibrahim brings deep illumination to afternoon jazz
“The purest thing between heaven and earth is love,” says Abdullah Ibrahim, “and sincerity is the gatekeeper.”...
30 Jun 2019
Abdullah Ibrahim looks to past, present and future
More than six decades into a trail-blazing career in music, and recently named a Jazz Master by the National Endowment for the Arts, Abdullah Ibrahim shows no signs of slowing down. The legendary jazz pianist, composer and anti-Apartheid activist – Nelson Mandela called him the "Mozart...
24 Jun 2019
“The Balance” by Abdullah Ibrahim Review: A Jazz Master Continues to Grow
On his first album in five years, the pianist finds yet more surprising pleasures in his signature blend of South African music and American jazz....
12 Jun 2019
Newly-Christened NEA Jazz Master Abdullah Ibrahim Strikes ‘The Balance’: Premiere
The material on The Balance may be new to listeners – including the title track, premiering exclusively below – but it's very familiar to veteran pianist and newly christened NEA Jazz Master Abdullah Ibrahim on his first new album in five years. "We've been playing this music...
10 Jun 2019
10 albums you need to know about: June 2019
The return of a South African jazz legend; new records redefining the role of the harp within jazz; the debut of a new, boundary-defying ensemble. All this and more on this month’s list of ten albums you need to know about....