Jazz great Ibrahim thrilled to perform where it all started
Abdullah Ibrahim – one of South Africa’s greatest jazz icons – has announced concert dates for Gauteng and Cape Town.
The pianist, composer and band leader’s life has spanned nine decades. Born and raised in District Six in Cape Town, he is the last surviving member of a generation of truly global jazz giants, an elite that included his mentor Duke Ellington and other legends such as Max Roach and Randy Weston, with whom he lived and played.
Ibrahim returns home to South Africa after a five-year absence to give a series of landmark concerts in April. The limited dates include a highlight in the iconic Cape Town City Hall.
“To be launching my M7 Foundation in Johannesburg, playing concerts in Pretoria’s new stateof-the-art arena and uniquely returning to performing inside City Hall – an illustrious venue I first played at aged 16 for a segregated audience – is something that at one time was unimaginable,” he said. “I am honoured and thrilled to have the opportunity.”
Over the course of his career, Ibrahim has performed with the greatest names to emerge from South Africa’s legendary jazz scene, including his work with Hugh Masekela, Miriam Makeba, Jonas Gwangwa, Kippie Moeketsi, his late wife and singer Sathima Bea Benjamin, and many more.
“As I embrace my 90th year, I am delighted to be undertaking these concerts… for me, they are a deeply personal dream – envisaged first many years ago,” said Ibrahim.
“Perhaps when, as a free South African, I bought land, or perhaps so many years before that when I was forced to exile? But certainly, I was thrown into sharp relief during the Covid pandemic, when I wondered if, or when, I would see ‘home’ again”.
Ibrahim recently released his latest album – 3 – a recording of two sets from London’s Barbican Hall. Cleave Guyton Jr (on flute and piccolo), Noah Jackson (on bass and cello) and Ibrahim on piano make up the trio and are featured on both sets.
The album includes the much-loved tracks Nisa, Barakat and many more.
The concerts in South Africa form part of a world tour for Ibrahim as he performs around the world, visiting cities and cultures that, in their time, were pivotal in his exiled life.