Ibrahim was educated at the Université Ben Youssef in Marrakech and the Sorbonne in Paris. He was a founding member of the Istiqlal party (1944 - 1959) and served on the editorial committee of Al-Alam, the party newspaper, (1950 - 1952). He was imprisoned for nationalist activities (1952 - 1954).
After independence from France, Ibrahim served as secretary of state for information (1955 - 1956); minister of labor and social affairs (1956 - 1958); and prime minister and minister of foreign affairs (1958 - 1960). In 1959 he helped form Union Nationale des Forces Populaires (National Union of Popular Forces; UNFP) from the left wing of the Istiqlal and became leader of the UNFP in July 1972 when its Rabat section became the Union Socialiste des Forces Populaires (Socialist Union of Popular Forces; USFP). Since then, the UNFP has reportedly become increasingly subordinated to the Moroccan Labor Union (UMT) and has waned in influence.
Bibliography
Waterbury, John. The Commander of the Faithful: The MoroccanPolitical Elite - - A Study in Segmented Politics. New York: Columbia University Press, 1970.
The melodic sounds of South Africa are fused with the improvisation of jazz and the technical proficiency of classical music by South Africa-born pianist Dollar Brand or, as he's called himself since converting to Islam in 1968, Abdullah Ibrahim. Since attracting international acclaim as a member of the Jazz Epistles, one of South Africa's first jazz bands, he has continued to explore new ground with his imaginative playing. Exposed to a variety of music as a youngster, including traditional African music, religious songs, and jazz, Brand began studying piano at the age of seven. Becoming a professional musician in 1949, he performed with such South African groups as the Tuxedo Slickers and the Willie Max Big Band. Ten years later, he joined the Jazz Epistles, a group featuring trumpet player Hugh Masekela and alto saxophonist Kippi Moeketsi. The band, which had been formed in 1959 by American pianist John Mehegan for a recording session, Jazz in Africa, had recorded the first jazz album by South African musicians.
In 1962, Brand left South Africa with vocalist Sathima Bea Benjamin; the two were married in 1965, and temporarily settled in Zurich. Performing with his trio, which featured bassist Johnny Gertze and drummer Makaya Ntshoko, Brand was heard by Duke Ellington at the Africana Club. Ellington was so impressed that he arranged a recording session for Brand and the trio. The resulting album, Duke Ellington Presents the Dollar Brand Trio, was released on the Reprise label in 1963. He continued to be supported by Ellington following the album's release. In addition to being booked to play (at Ellington's urging) at the Newport Jazz Festival in 1965, Brand served as Ellington's substitute and performed five shows with the Ellington Orchestra the following year. Shortly afterwards, he disbanded the trio and accepted an invitation to join Elvin Jones' quartet. The collaboration with Jones lasted six months. After leaving the Jones quartet, he continued to be involved with a variety of projects. Besides touring as a soloist in 1968, he worked with bands led by Don Cherry and Gato Barbieri. Briefly returning to South Africa in 1976, the now Abdullah Ibrahim settled in New York the same year. Although he returned to South Africa to live in 1990, he continued to divide his time between his birthplace and his adopted home in New York.
In 1997, Ibrahim collaborated on an album and tour with jazz drummer Max Roach. The following year, Swiss composer Daniel Schnyder arranged several of his compositions for a 22-piece orchestra for a Swiss television production, and for a world tour undertaken by the full-sized Munich Radio Philharmonic Orchestra, conducted by Barbara Yahr of the United States. Ibrahim continued to perform and record for the remainder of the 1990s and throughout the 2000s, releasing such notable albums as African Suite (1999, Enja), Cape Town Revisited (2000, Enja; recorded in 1997), Ekapa Lodumo (2001, Enja/Tiptoe), African Magic (2003, Enja/Justin Time), Senzo (2008, Sunnyside), and Bombella (2009, Intuition). Ibrahim has also composed the scores for such films as Chocolat and No Fear No Die. ~ Craig Harris, Rovi
Abdullah Ibrahim (Arabic: عبدالله إبراهيم), born Adolph Johannes Brand, 9 October 1934 in Cape Town, South Africa, and formerly known as Dollar Brand, is a South Africanpianist and composer. His music reflects many of the musical influences of his childhood in the multicultural port areas of Cape Town, ranging from traditional African songs to the gospel of the AME Church and ragas, to more modern jazz and other Western styles. Ibrahim is considered the leading figure in the sub-genre, Cape Jazz. Within jazz, his music particularly reflects the influence of Thelonious Monk and Duke Ellington. With his wife, the jazz singer Sathima Bea Benjamin, he is father to the New York underground rapper Jean Grae, as well as to a son, Tsakwe.
He first received piano lessons at the age of seven, was an avid consumer of jazz records brought by American sailors, and was playing jazz professionally by 1949. In 1959 and 1960, he played alongside Kippie Moeketsi and Hugh Masekela with The Jazz Epistles in Sophiatown; the group recorded the first jazz LP by Black South African musicians in 1960.[1] Ibrahim then joined the European tour of the musical King Kong.
He moved to Europe in 1962. In February 1963, Ibrahim's wife-to-be Sathima Bea Benjamin convinced Duke Ellington, who was in Zürich on a European tour, to come to hear Ibrahim perform as “The Dollar Brand Trio” in Zürich's “Africana Club”. After the show, Ellington helped set up a recording session with Reprise Records: Duke Ellington presents The Dollar Brand Trio.[1] A second recording of the trio (also with Duke Ellington and Billy Strayhorn on piano) performing with Sathima as vocalist was recorded, but remained unreleased until 1996 (A Morning in Paris under Benjamin's name). The Dollar Brand Trio (with Johnny Gertze on bass and Makaya Ntshoko on drums) subsequently played at many European festivals, as well as on radio and television.
He briefly returned to South Africa in the mid-1970s after his conversion to Islam (and the resultant change of name from Dollar Brand to Abdullah Ibrahim); however, he soon returned to New York in 1976, as he found the political conditions too oppressive. While in South Africa, however, he made a series of recordings with noted Cape Town players (including Basil Coetzee and Robbie Jansen). These seminal recordings gave impetus to a new sound, Cape Jazz. These included the masterpiece, "Mannenberg", renamed "Capetown Fringe" in its US release, one of South Africa's popular musical compositions; the recording soon became an unofficial soundtrack to the anti-apartheid resistance. "Black Lightning", "African Herbs" and "Soweto is Where it is at", sounds that mirrored and spoke of the defiance in the streets and townships of South Africa. Saxophonist and flautist Carlos Ward was his sideman in acclaimed duets during the early 1980s.
Abdullah Ibrahim has written the soundtracks for a number of films, including the award-winning Chocolat and, more recently, No Fear, No Die.[1] Since the ending of apartheid, he has lived in Cape Town, and now divides his time between his global concert circuit, New York, and South Africa.
Ibrahim has worked as a solo performer, typically in mesmerising unbroken concerts that echo the unstoppable impetus of the old marabi performers, classical impressionists and snatches of his musical idols - Duke Ellington, Thelonious Monk and Fats Waller. He also performs regularly with trios and quartets and larger orchestral units. Since his return to South Africa in the early 1990s, he has been feted with symphony orchestra performances, one of which was in honour of Nelson Mandela's inauguration as President. He has also founded the "M7" academy for South African musicians in Cape Town, and was the initiator of the Cape Town Jazz Orchestra, an 18-piece big band launched in September 2006.
Ibrahim's song "African Marketplace" has achieved such widespread popularity that the SwedishCommunist Party always plays it at demonstrations and meetings.[2] Ibrahim continues to perform internationally, mainly in Europe, and with occasional shows in North America.
Ibrahim appeared in a television documentary in Japan that aired on June 26, 2010, on NHK-BS. In the program, he performed his compositions in several beauty spots in South Africa, playing a piano set on the ground that resonated deeply with the majestic natural surroundings.
Discography
1960: Jazz Epistle Verse 1
1964: Duke Ellington presents The Dollar Brand Trio
^ abc Carr, Ian; Fairweather, Digby; and Priestley, Brian (3rd ed. 2004). The Rough Guide to Jazz, pp. 385-87. London: Rough Guides Ltd. ISBN 1-84353-256-5.
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