Abdullah Ibrahim: recommendations sought

Thomas - I saw him in concert a couple of years ago and he was excellent, quite serious and cerebral though. If you like his more joyous side go for his early stuff when he was still known as Dollar Brand. The albums he made in the early seventies are wonderful - I'm sorry I can't tell you their names as they are all in storage at the moment.

Andy

I've heard a couple of his albums from when he was known as "Dollar Brand", and I don't recall them grabbing me much. However, his more recent "African Suite" gets played regularly 'round these here parts.

-=> Mike Hanson <=-

Thomas,

African Suite is good, but my favourite is called Mindif. It's a beautiful recording which retains the unique African flavour really nicely.

Cheers, Jens

Guys, thanks for the recommendations so far. Is any of the albums you mention a trio recording (i.e. piano, bass and drums)?

Thomas

I am a huge fan of Abdullah Ibrahim's music. His early work is under the "Dollar Brand" label, and I am not familiar with this era of his work. From the 70's on he has recorded a wealth of material, mostly on Enja, under his name, and with the backing group Ekaya on many projects. His recent work is wonderful, I would start with two different recordings that capture the two sizes of his ensembles:

1) Water From An Ancient Well- larger ensemble, one of his best.

2) Yarona- intimate trio setting for a live date from a NYC jazz club. Sublime, meditative music that rewards a more attentive listen.

Good listening!

Tintinyana (Kaz) is a excellent selection of his 1970's stuff, mostly as a trio, but the highlight is the rolling 'Soweto's where it's at' with his full band of the time. One of those tracks that goes on for about 15 minutes but you never want to end.

All music give it a meagre 3 stars - but what do they know - you can listen to the samples and make your own mind up.

duncan

Email: djcritchley at hotmail.com

[This message was edited by djc on Fri 05 November 2004 at 21:00.]

Strange coincidence, just heard him for the first time 5 minutes ago on Jazz FM. Very good, and got a new album out.

Andrew

Andrew Randle
The Hi-Fi Doctor

I have Cape Town Songs - The very best of Abdullah Ibrahim. It's a nice compilation of Enja recordings from 1979 to 1997.

I can recommend also Cape Town Flowers.

Emil

Saw him live early this year....it was absolutely entrancing, one of those concerts where the music carries you away. Got the Cape Town Songs album in order to investigate his music further...sadly it wasn't a patch on the live performance.

Cheers

John

Thanks again for all your recommendations. I got "Yarona" and "Cape Town Revisited", both live trio recordings, which I preferred to the full-on band recordings.

Thomas

Thomas - thanks for the post - I was about to do the same having bought an excellent CD at the weekend by Abdullah Ibrahim called No Fear, No Die - it is a soundtrack and very good.

Adrian

quote:

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Originally posted by Thomas K: In case you're reading, Markus, this sounds like something you might like!

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I caught this a little late, Thomas, but thanks for the thought. I have several Dollar Brand/Abdullah Ibrahim albums, but I must admit I haven't been playing them in a long time. I'll give them a listen soon.

Watch for the anniversary album out now from the enja label. A very good collection of the last 40+ years with excerpts from his best albums, and very, very well collected liner notes. A must-have, if you haven't got any other CD's from AI.

Best regards, freundliche Grüße

Stefan