In exile, he imagined a different Africa in his music, while being exposed to new realities abroad.
Articles on Abdullah Ibrahim
Displaying all articles
He embodied a special brand of multiple identities and belief systems, and took them to the world.
With a story as harrowing as the times he lived in, he was a singular voice in the country’s rich jazz history.
Rashid Vally gave voice to the new Black jazz of the 1970s through his record label As-Shams, named by pianist Abdullah Ibrahim.
In his work Abdullah Ibrahim looked to the past to offer a vision of the future.
The legendary As-Shams jazz label has released the first of several compilation albums recovered from its archive.
Zulu spirituality and the legacy of the ancestors, personal and musical, are the concerns of the saxophonist and composer.
The album Follow the Sun shows how South African jazz draws from diversity to speak fluidly across borders.
His talent took him across the world - he was Ray Charles’ regular drummer - and the music he was exposed to sparked innovation when he returned home.
Songstress Dorothy Masuku once told South Africa’s public broadcaster that music was like breathing for her.
South African jazz veteran Jonas Gwangwa has been getting recognition for the pivotal role he played in ‘singing down apartheid.’
South African trumpeter Hugh Masekela made an impact across the world during his decades-long musical career.
It took ages for one of African jazz’s hidden masterpieces to be reissued. Still today, four decades later, 1976’s ‘African Songbird’ tells volumes about the politics of the time.
Top contributors
-
Associate of the Gordon Institute for Business Science, University of Pretoria
-
Professor of American History, University of California, Los Angeles
-
Extraordinary Professor, Stellenbosch University
-
Extraordinary Professor, Department of Political Sciences, University of Pretoria
-
Post-Doctoral Fellow, Stellenbosch University