Song Is My Story

We can celebrate several anniversaries simultaneously with legendary pianist Abdullah Ibrahim s new recording, The Song Is My Story. First, there is the 80th birthday of one of the most significant musicians in the world. We are also reminded of the time 40 years ago when Ibrahim composed "Mannenberg," which quickly became the hymn of the slums and townships of South Africa. Finally, we can celebrate the end of South African apartheid, which ended 20 years ago.

Ibrahim was born as Adolphe Johannes Brand in that country of unequal rights. He called himself Dollar Brand as an adolescent. He began playing piano when he was seven and became a "professional musician" at fifteen. He emigrated to Europe still as Dollar Brand in 1962, where Duke Ellington discovered him shortly thereafter. He then moved to the United States. That marked the beginning of his international career, which has lasted until this day. Ibrahim has converted to Islam, in the meantime, and returned to Europe long ago. Then he changed his name again and has been known as Abdullah Ibrahim worldwide for decades.

His musical style is difficult to describe, even when you repeatedly hear themes from African melodies and harmonies. In addition, you can't miss the influence of great peers and legends such as Thelonious Monk. Ibrahim, in an interview with the magazine Zeit in 2013, stated:

"I have always sought for a specific sound my whole life. At the end of the 60s I lived in New York at that time this search became worse and worse. I walked the streets day and night, a restless African in America, who did not understand what was driving him. It wasn't the sound, but the silence, the silent moments in music."

Perhaps it is this which fascinates millions of people: Abdullah Ibrahim's treatment of time, space and silence. Three dimensions of music, which he and probably only he celebrates like a prayer put to music. It is not without reason that he writes on the CD cover: "Improvisation is meditation in motion".

Ibrahim said in the same interview: "There are people who can only play if they have sheet music. But we others improvise without knowing where we are headed. This makes us free. We don't fear situations that we don't know. We have a song, rhythm, harmony and pitch, and then we start to play with that, turn everything upside down ... We jazz musicians are not afraid of letting things take their course."

However, the term "jazz musician" is a corset, which is much too constricting for this great personage, who has not lost any of his radiance. His music is "world" music in the greatest sense of the word. It not only links sounds of different genres and musical traditions, but also music with poetry, sound with feelings, melodies with stories and people with people.

Abdullah Ibrahim visited Italy in the summer of 2014, played on the legendary "Fazioli" grand piano and visited the workshop where these exquisite pianos are crafted. There is a concert hall there with fantastic instruments, which sound as if they were created especially for Ibrahim. Abdullah Ibrahim recorded The Song Is My Story there as a free improvisation, for the most part. Fortunately, professional films were shot during these performances, which helped to provide a DVD with concert excerpts as well as impressive comments by, and conversations with, Abdullah Ibrahim.