Artist:Abdullah Ibrahim
Song:The Wedding
Album:South African Ambassador
Pianist Abdullah Ibrahim is the foremost figure of Cape jazz meaning he was born in South Africa. He's been around since the 60s. I saw him live in the 80s. The Wedding is one of his better known compositions. He was born Adolph Brand Oct. 9, 1934 in Cape Town, South Africa. He began piano lessons at age seven and was playing professionally at age 15. The nickname Dollar is because he was known for haunting local stores looking for cheap jazz records. So he was a cratedigger. Ibrahim's main influences are Duke Ellington and Thelonious Monk. He was a member of the Jazz Epistles which included Hugh Masekela. They were the first black South African jazz band to record an an album in 1960. Of course South Africa was very oppressive back then so Ibrahim moved to Europe in 1963. Duke Ellington was on tour and Ibrahim's wife convinced Ellington to see him in Zurich. The result was the 1963 album Duke Ellington Presents the Dollar Brand Trio on Reprise. This led to a record deal with the British label Black Lion and later with the German label Enja. Ibrahim moved to New York in 1965 and he toured with Ellington. He also got a Rockefeller Foundation grant to study at Juilliard. When Ibrahim moved to Cape Town in 1968, that's when he converted to Islam and changed his name to Abdullah Ibrahim. He signed with Enja in 1968 and he recorded for them through the 90s. He recorded for other labels and The Wedding is from Ibrahim's 1981 album Duke's Memories. The album is a mix of Ellington compositions and Ibrahim originals like The Wedding. This was recorded in Germany for the short lived label String and it was released in 1986 by the French jazz label Black & Blue. The musicians are one time B.T. Express saxophonist Carlos Ward. At this point, he was touring regularly with Brand. The others were session bassist Rachim Ausur-Sahu and drummer Andrei Strobert. Black & Blue released this comp in 1987 and it's available as a budget CD. Ibrahim returned to the US in 1981 and he continues to record and tour. His latest CD Solotude was released in 2020 by the British label Gearbox. I may look at Ibrahim's Enja recordings in the future. Here's Abdullah Ibrahim performing The Wedding in 2020 to promote the album Solotude.
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