Abullah Ibrahim At SFJAZZ

By HARRY S. PARISER 
Published: May 12, 2016

Abdullah Ibfahim 
SFJAZZ 
San Francisco, CA April 29-30, 2016 

At 81, pianist Abdullah Ibrahim, is still going strong, something he proved during a remarkable tour-de-force performance which spanned four nights at SFJAZZ in San Francisco. 

For the first two evenings (Thursday and Friday), Ibrahim appeared in the company of his Mukashi Trio. For these nights, Ibrahim brought together bassist, cellist, and composer Noah Jackson, a Detroit native, and Cleave Guyton Jr. who played flute, piccolo and clarinet. 

While Guyton has played with artists such as Aretha Franklin, Joe Henderson, Abbey Lincoln, The Duke Ellington Orchestra, Jon Hendricks, The Count Basie Orchestraand Chaka Khan, Jackson leads the NYC-based quintet Full Circle. The two playing cello and flute in tandem with Ibrahim's piano proved a sublime treat for the ears. Guyton played flute and piccolo with scintillating zest; Jackson dexterously thumbed a number of adroit bass solos. 

Ibrahim's colorful personal history has contributed greatly to his prodigious musical output. Gospel and blues elements in Ibrahim's playing are clearly evident. He grew up in Cape Town, South Africa where his grandmother was the pianist for the local A.M.E. Church, while his mother led the choir. Christened Adolphes Johnnes Brand, Ibrahim began playing the piano at seven and was soon exposed to such musical influences as Fats Waller. Cape Town itself was a melting pot of styles: tribal music, Chinese, Indian and Islamic music was present, along with American pop and R&B. In 1962, he embarked on a three-decade exile in which he moved between Europe, the U.S. and Swaziland. 

After hearing him play in Switzerland, Duke Ellington invited him to record for his Reprise Records, a date which proved to be the first of his sixty-plus recordings. At that time he was still known as Dollar Brand. The story behind this colorful name is said to be that, as a young man in Cape Town, Ibrahim would always carry a dollar in his pocket in the event that he would meet a Black American sailor selling coveted jazz 78s. Following his conversion to Islam in 1968, he changed his name to Abdullah Ibrahim. Since that time, he has produced a plethora of albums and CDs, and has also recorded several soundtracks for films by the renowned French director Claire Denis. 

The evenings, both with the trio and, the Saturday and Sunday night dates, featuring his veteran band Ekaya, followed a similar pattern. The accompanying musicians' names and instruments were announced over the sound system. Then Ibrahim, clad in black, would take the stage and play one of his evocative and flowing solos to open the first of the evening's two sets. Each evening's second set would also commence with a virtuoso solo.

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