| Artist: Dollar Brand |
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| Mideast & N. Africa Encyclopedia: Abdullah Ibrahim |
1918 -
Moroccan socialist political leader.
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.
— C. R. PENNELL
UPDATED BY ANA TORRES-GARCIA
| Wikipedia: Abdullah Ibrahim |
| Abdullah Ibrahim | |
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| Background information | |
| Birth name | Adolph Johannes Brand |
| Born | October 9, 1934 |
| Origin | Cape Town, South Africa |
| Genre(s) | South African jazz, Bebop, Post Bop, Modern Creative, Folk |
| Occupation(s) | Pianist, composer, bandleader |
| Instrument(s) | Piano, saxophone, cello |
| Years active | 1955–present |
| Associated acts | Sathima Bea Benjamin, Jean Grae |
| Website | www.abdullahibrahim.com |
Abdullah Ibrahim (born 9 October 1934 in Cape Town, South Africa), formerly known as Adolph Johannes Brand, and as Dollar Brand, is a South African pianist 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. 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.
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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 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, and in February 1963, while Ibrahim was performing as “The Dollar Brand Trio” in Zürich's “Africana Club”, his wife-to-be Sathima Bea Benjamin convinced Duke Ellington to hear the trio while Ellington was in Zürich on a European tour. As a result, a recording session was set up 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.
Since then Ibrahim has toured mainly in Europe, the United States, and in his home country, South Africa. Performances are mainly in concerts and clubs, mostly as a band, but sometimes playing solo piano. He mainly plays piano but also plays flute, saxophone, and cello; he mainly performs his own compositions, although he sometimes performs pieces composed by others.
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 Jazz players (including Basil Coetzee and Robbie Jansen). This included Coetzee's masterpiece, "Mannenberg", acknowledged by most as one of South Africa's greatest musical compositions; the recording soon became an unofficial soundtrack to the anti-apartheid resistance. Saxophonist and flutist Carlos Ward was his sideman in acclaimed duets during the early eighties.
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 end of apartheid, he has lived in Cape Town, and now divides his time between his global concert circuit, New York, and South Africa.
He also took part in the 2002 documentary Amandla!: A Revolution in Four-Part Harmony where he and others recalled the days of apartheid.
Abdullah Ibrahim is a towering figure in South African music, an artist who brings together all its traditions with a deeply felt understanding of American jazz, from the orchestral richness of Duke Ellington's compositions for big band to the groundbreaking innovations of Ornette Coleman and the 1960s avant-garde.
Ibrahim has worked as a solo performer, typically in mesmerising unbroken concerts that echo the unstoppable impetus of the old marabi performers. 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 installation 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 continues to perform, mainly in Europe, and with occasional shows in North America. In June 2009 he has a week-long engagement at the Jazz Standard in New York, the first three nights solo, and the weekend with a full group which he calls Ekaya. His playing and band leading remain inspired, challenging and gracious, retaining the elements of joy and purpose which run through his extraordinary career.
This entry is from Wikipedia, the leading user-contributed encyclopedia. It may not have been reviewed by professional editors (see full disclaimer)
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 | Artist. Copyright © 2009 All Media Guide, LLC. Content provided by All Music Guide ®, a trademark of All Media Guide, LLC. All rights reserved. Read more |
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| Mideast & N. Africa Encyclopedia. Encyclopedia of the Modern Middle East and North Africa. Copyright © 2004 by The Gale Group, Inc. All rights reserved. Read more |
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| Wikipedia. This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Abdullah Ibrahim". Read more |
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