FIVE DEEP CUTS
ABDULLAH IBRAHIM

January 20, 2018 | by Ross Eustis

Album artwork for Abdullah Ibrahim's "Hajj"

Five deep cuts from South African jazz legend Abdullah Ibrahim, the man Nelson Mandela called "South Africa's Mozart."

Abdullah Ibrahim teams up with Wadada Leo Smith to revisit the Jazz Epistles at SFJAZZ on February 22-25, a hard bop ensemble modeled on Art Blakey’s Jazz Messengers. The performances will also as serve as a tribute to the legacy of the late South African trumpeter Hugh Masekela, who was orginally going to perform on the bill.

 1. "Black Lightning"

An extremely rare LP, Black Lightning sees Abdullah Ibrahim enlisting his fellow South African musicians for a joyous, danceable homage to his township roots, in particular Cape Town's minstrel tradition.

 2. "The Mountain"

Originaly released on Water from an Ancient Well (Black Hawk) in 1985, "The Mountain" is among Ibrahim's finest compositions written for his Ekaya septet.

 3. "District Six"

Ibrahim: "Where you felt the fist of apartheid, [District Six] was the valve to release some of that pressure. In the late 50s and 60s, when the [apartheid regime] clamped down, it was still a place where people could mix freely. It attracted musicians, writers, politicians at the forefront of the struggle... We played and everybody would be there." In the 1970s, the apartheid regime forcibly removed its 60,000 residents. 

 4. "Hajj"

"Exiled from South Africa in 1962, [Ibrahim] met Ellington in Zurich a year later. Moving to New York, he was part of the free jazz scene at its most heavy-duty moment, hanging out with John Coltrane, Ornette Coleman and Cecil Taylor, playing and recording with his soul mate Don Cherry" (excerpt from Richard Scheinin's Abdullah Ibrahim: A Life In Song). "Hajj" comes from the 1978 Journey session with Cherry, Hamiet Bluiett, Talib Rhynie and others in the avant-garde scene. It's anchored by a trance-inducing 9/8 piano vamp, with a floating, Middle Eastern-flavored melodic call-and-response.

5. "Peace"

Ibrahim's Japanese-inspired Mukashi (translates from Japanese as "once upon a time") features a colorful instrumentation of piano, winds and cello. The group is designed to tell stories, and no one tells a tale through music like Ibrahim.