Obituary
At 91 in Germany on Monday. A wonderful, defiant icon of Sth African jazz. I first heard him in 1981 in Zimbabwe the towering Mannenberg soaring into the clear blue African sky. From then on I could always recognise township style jazz within 3 or 4 notes.
I only saw him once, on a hot afternoon at Womadelaide. He came on solo , unannounced started to play and play and play then he stood up bowed and walked off.
Shockingly, no UK release of this gem exists.
The track is also on the cd voice of africa
There are several excellent – and cheap – compilations on the Kaz/Camden labels that capture key periods in Ibrahim’s career. As well as ‘Voice of Africa’ (with the tracks Black Lightning and Mannenberg) there is ‘African Sun’ (with African Herbs), ‘Tintinyana’ (Soweto Is Where It’s At, Bra Joe From Kilimanjaro), ‘Blues For A Hip King’, ‘The Mountain’ (playing with Ekaya) and ‘African Horns’ (which, admittedly, has only three of Ibrahim’s tracks on it).
There are also the two volumes of ‘Jazz in Africa’, with Vol. 1 covering recordings by the Jazz Epistles and Vol. 2 having just one track from Ibrahim (Kalahari, clocking in at 23 minutes) but with the huge bonus of including Pat Matshikiza’s brilliant track Tshona. All thoroughly recommended despite some duplication.
wot he said
Isn’t the track “Cape Town Fringe” (on the album of the same name) just “Mannenberg” under a different name? Cape Town Fringe is what the track was known as when it was released in the USA. I bought the reissue of the album when it came out on Chiaroscuro Records a few years ago.
Very sad news. He was a great musician, composer and ambassador for South Africa.
As well as Duke Ellington organising his first album and being mentored by Duke he even lead Duke’s band sometimes in Duke’s absence.
This –
And this – recent article in the NY Review of Books
https://archive.md/kPgzh
And this – TV interview from 2 years ago
Yes, sad news. Ibrahim was releasing top-quality work right up until the end of his life.
I’m so glad that I got to see him live once, at the Stockholm Jazz Festival in 2016. It was a magical concert.
Rest easy.
There’s a pretty decent remix album titled Re : Ibrahim. Here’s Calypso Minor :
Have a number of his albums both solo piano and also band format and I love them equally. First came across him when one of his tracks was played over the PA at a Jools Holland gig. I asked the sound man what it was and have been a fan ever since.
Lovely piece from one of the founders of Matsuli records.
https://open.substack.com/pub/matsuli/p/abdullah-ibrahim-death-is-not-the?utm_source=direct&utm_campaign=post-expanded-share&utm_medium=web
Very sad to hear about this. DB/AI was one of the very first jazz artists I picked up on – mainly I guess because at the time (80s) I was discovering ‘world music’. The African Piano live album is breathtaking – monstrous technique coupled with traditional African folk tunes. A true giant of both the jazz world and African music in general.
https://www.theguardian.com/music/2026/jun/16/from-the-pain-of-apartheid-to-luscious-beauty-10-of-the-best-recordings-by-jazz-legend-abdullah-ibrahim