The serene solitude of Abdullah Ibrahim
Jazz pianist Abdullah Ibrahim on February 6, 2012, in Johannesburg, South Africa.
© Lauren Mulligan/The Times/Gallo Images/Getty Images
By: Joe Farmer Follow
5 mins
The South African pianist Abdullah Ibrahim is a major personality of our time.
At 87, he continues to let himself be carried away by the rhythm of life.
With rare humility, he does not claim to have invented a musical genre or revolutionized the art of instantaneous improvisation.
However, after six decades of a prestigious epic, he is revered and inscribes his destiny in the great book of Afro-planetary music.
His latest album
Solotude
is a new display of graceful virtuosity that his many admirers are so fond of.
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Although he crossed paths with the greatest instrumentalists of our time, Abdullah Ibrahim cherishes this status of eternal student which prohibits him from pretentiousness or self-celebration.
From the top of his 60 years of artistic journey, jostled by the pangs of racial segregation in South Africa, he has managed to preserve this candor that identifies sensitive souls.
His modest view of his various encounters and collaborations inscribes his spirituality in African traditions.
For him, Duke Ellington, Billy Strayhorn, Thelonious Monk are the chiefs of the village that we consult to find our way.
Beyond the respect that these legends of yesteryear impose, you have to know how to ignore their notoriety to take advantage of their teachings.
This is one of the lessons that the young Abdullah Ibrahim learned very early in contact with his heroes.
Abdullah Ibrahim in 2022. © Marina Umari
"
accept mistakes and failures.
So your ego won't expect anything in return."
(Abdullah Ibrahim – January 2022)
Abdullah Ibrahim's musical spirituality is strongly expressed in each of his performances.
The
Solotude
album is no exception to the rule.
This disc is all the more serene as it was recorded during the period of generalized confinement that Europe had to undergo in 2020. As he was preparing to give, as every year, his anniversary concert in the pregnant at the Hirzinger Hall in Riedering in Germany, sanitary restrictions transformed this celebration into an intimate piano improvisation.
Alone, without the cheers of the audience, Abdullah Ibrahim let his inspiration guide him, playing with melodies from his repertoire of yesterday and today.
This musical offering was filmed and became one of the maestro's most moving performances.
Abdullah Ibrahim, in 2020, during the recording of "Solotude" at Hirzinger Hall in Riedering, Germany.
© Tobias Corts
"
There is no nostalgia in this record. I live here and now. Defining the passage of time creates confusion. We have to think about the present moment. My album
Solotude
All the works that I have composed belong to a moment that I was living at the time.
Therefore, the music I perform is never the same.
Each breath is never the same.
During my first appearances in Europe, some journalists thought that my music was primitive.
I was just following my heartbeat.
Every day is different, but your heartbeat is the same."
(Abdullah Ibrahim on Joe Farmer's microphone)
►
Blue Bolero
(
Solotude
), Abdullah Ibrahim
Abdullah Ibrahim - Blue Bolero (Solotude).
© YouTube Gearbox Records
►
Abdullah Ibrahim's website
.
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South Africa
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