Yarona

Abdullah Ibrahim Trio

Jazz Composition, South African Style

When asked about his favorite musicians, Duke Ellington frequently mentioned the South African jazz pianist and composer Abdullah Ibrahim, whom he first heard at a nightclub in Zurich. Known in the '60s and '70s as "Dollar Brand," Ibrahim is one of the few international jazz musicians to develop his own "language," a sound that casts the prayerful melodies of his homeland in a harmonically hip jazz context. His tunes are simple, graceful, and cautiously celebratory—it's easy to imagine a children's choir singing them.

Ibrahim has scored some of his compositions for large ensembles, but his music, which he has said is inspired by South Africa itself, is ideally suited to intimate jazz exploration. On this trio CD, he begins his "Nisa" in a Keith Jarrett–like zone, purposefully stating and restating an opening gambit. Then he wanders off, carried by the sauntering pulse to a land of longer, more complicated ideas. When, after several minutes, Ibrahim returns to his original phrase, it reverberates with unexpected force.

Yarona contains playful updates of songs Ibrahim has been playing for decades—including the serene "Cherry/Mannenburg" (which was originally titled "Cape Town Fringe") and "African Marketplace"—as well as newer material. As Ibrahim takes them apart, he locates troubled undercurrents and tiny side ideas, little things that enhance his compositional intent. Like so much art from Africa, Ibrahim's music sounds simple, but there is always more—much more—lurking beneath the surface.

Genre: Jazz
Released: 1995, Enja
Key Tracks: "Cherry/Mannenburg," "African River," "Tintinyana," "African Marketplace"
Catalog Choice: African Space Program; Duke Ellington Presents the Dollar Brand Trio
Next Stop: Bheki Mseleku: Meditations
Book Page: 378

Share this page:

Comments:

Post a Comment:

Name:

Email:

Location:

URL:

Remember my personal information

Notify me of follow-up comments?

Submit the word you see below:



About 1,000 Recordings

Celebrate the joy, the revelation, the mystery, the fun, the sheer shivers-up-the-spine pleasure of great music.

Essential operas. Milestone rock albums. An education in the blues. The world of world. Classical from Bach to Bartók to Beethoven to Brahms. And dozens of unexpected gems, surprising discoveries, and long-lost masterpieces.

This is an online version of the list (published alphabetically in the book). The entries in the book break down genre bias and broaden every listener’s horizons—think Miles Davis to Claude Debussy to the melodic story-songs of The Decemberists. And the writing is passionate, informed, opinionated.

More about the book

site design: Juxtaprose