CD-Charts Position 1

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Senzo

by: Abdullah Ibrahim

Release Date October 27, 2008

CD-Charts Position 2

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The Voice of Africa

by: Abdullah Ibrahim

Release Date April 25, 1998

CD-Charts Position 3

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Water from An Ancient Well

by: Abdullah Ibrahim

Release Date July 29, 2002

CD-Charts Position 4
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Blues for a Hip King

by: Abdullah Ibrahim

Release Date June 13, 1998
This marvellous album from Abdullah Ibrahim (aka Dollar Brand) is as good way as any to start listening to this great South African Jazz Pianist.

Listen to 'Sweet Basil Blues', its instantly catchy and it sounds very simple (probably fiendishly difficult actually!), and it certainly has a blues influence. All of Abdullah's self-penned tracks are like this. The musicians playing with him are of all of the highest quality, amongst the better known are Blue Mitchell and Basil Coetzee.

Abdullah actually stood in for Duke Ellington in the early 60's, and his influence and Monk's can certainly be heard in his Piano playing. On a few tracks here Abdullah gives a nod to that American influence, playing covers of two Monk tunes, ... Read More:

CD-Charts Position 5
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Yarona

by: Abdullah Ibrahim Trio

Release Date July 12, 1995
I am amazed to be the first person to review this amazing album. Althoug being an avid jazz listener and cd collector, I had not yet listened to any albums of Abdullah Ibrahim (fka Dollar Brand) until a few months ago, until I listened to one of his gorgeously lyrical signature songs "The Wedding" (which he has recorded several times in different formats on his own albums) on Larry Goldings' "Quartet" album. Then I decided that I had to get to know the composer better. In order to make a decision on which albums to start with, taking into account his huge recorded output, I browsed through the Penguin Guide to Jazz on CD to get a better idea on where to start. As a result, this was one of the first recordings I listened to. At first and subsequent ... Read More:

CD-Charts Position 6
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African Piano

by: Abdullah Ibrahim, Dollar Brand

Release Date September 19, 1988
It is customary, in today's world, that all things musical and literary be categorized; perhaps so the reviewer can draw attention to their own percieved knowledge. The only thing that needs to be said about the music of Abdullah Ibrahim is that it brings Africa to life; the pain, the joy, the tears, the laughter and the evolutionary miracle that is this continent.

CD-Charts Position 7
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The Mountain

by: Abdullah & Ekaya Ibrahim

Release Date March 21, 1998
It is customary, in today's world, that all things musical and literary be categorized; perhaps so the reviewer can draw attention to their own percieved knowledge. The only thing that needs to be said about the music of Abdullah Ibrahim is that it brings Africa to life; the pain, the joy, the tears, the laughter and the evolutionary miracle that is this continent.

CD-Charts Position 8
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African Sun

by: Abdullah Ibrahim

Release Date April 25, 1998
It is customary, in today's world, that all things musical and literary be categorized; perhaps so the reviewer can draw attention to their own percieved knowledge. The only thing that needs to be said about the music of Abdullah Ibrahim is that it brings Africa to life; the pain, the joy, the tears, the laughter and the evolutionary miracle that is this continent.

CD-Charts Position 9
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African Marketplace

by: Abdullah Ibrahim

Release Date May 18, 1995
It is customary, in today's world, that all things musical and literary be categorized; perhaps so the reviewer can draw attention to their own percieved knowledge. The only thing that needs to be said about the music of Abdullah Ibrahim is that it brings Africa to life; the pain, the joy, the tears, the laughter and the evolutionary miracle that is this continent.

CD-Charts Position 10
Average Rating:

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Cape Town Songs: the Very Best of Abdullah Ibrahim

by: Abdullah Ibrahim

Release Date September 18, 2000
This retrospective of Abdullah Ibrahim's life in music is not only a great introdcution to the music of a giant of jazz but a fantastic album in itself. Drawing on recordings from 1979 to 1997, it covers a period of exile in Ibrahim's life - residing in America to escape the apartheid regime in his native South Africa - and his eventual return home.
Ibrahim occupies an unusual position at the more compostitional end of the Jazz scale, insofar that he writes his music not for the music's sake but to depict scenes, places and people. In my view, he is a modern day Sibelius, Smetena or Dvorak - his minuature "tone poems" are clearly heartfelt evocations of his beloved homeland. Typical of this is quietly reflective "The Mountain" - an orchestral arrangement ... Read More: