Jazz musician Ibrahim a study in survival<\/p>\n
By Ivy Susanti<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): Faith, ancestral heritage and years of creative
\ncooperation with jazz king Duke Ellington have made Abdullah
\nIbrahim the jazz artist he is today.<\/p>\n
The hardship and discrimination he experienced during the
\napartheid era gave him a sharper perspective in educating the
\nyounger generation in their African musical heritage.<\/p>\n
The South African pianist, who will play at an invitation only
\nconcert in Jakarta on Thursday at the Dharmawangsa Hotel in South
\nJakarta, was born Adolphes Johannos Brand in 1934 and raised in
\nCape Town (he changed his name in adulthood after converting to
\nIslam).<\/p>\n
He was fortunate that his family owned a piano, his mother led
\na local choir while his grandmother was the pianist for the local
\nAfrican Methodist Episcopal Church.<\/p>\n
Grandmother's hymns and spirituals made an impression on the
\nyoung boy, who began learning to play the piano at age seven. At
\nsome point he was exposed to the jazz of Meade Lux Lewis and Fats
\nWaller, and in the 1940s he first heard the jumping Jazz of
\nErskine Hawkins, Tiny Bradshaw, Louis Jordan and other American
\nmusicians, whose 78rpm discs were available from the sailors and
\nseamen who put in at Cape Town's great international port.<\/p>\n
His musical awareness was enriched by the musical melting pot
\nof the seaport. In Cape Town, traditional African tribal music,
\nCape Malay songs, hymns, carnival and street music, British low-
\npopular, music of the local communities of Chinese, Indians and
\nMuslims, \"Shabeen\" (speak easy), dance music (called marabi and
\nkwela), American pop, rhythm and blues and Jazz were integral to
\nthe local music culture.<\/p>\n
He began his local career as a vocalist with the Streamline
\nBrothers, then as a pianist first with the Tuxedo Slickers and
\nWillie Max Big Band.<\/p>\n
In 1959, he met alto saxophone player Kippie Moeketsi who
\nconvinced him to devote his life to music. Along with trumpeter
\nHugh Masekela, the trio formed the Jazz Epistles, mixing dance
\nmusic with Jazz.<\/p>\n
At that moment, Ibrahim fell under the defining influence of
\nthe worldly Moeketsi who filled his ears with the sounds of more
\nJazz royalty: Parker, Gillespie and Monk.<\/p>\n
Meet the king<\/p>\n
Life for professional black musicians was difficult during the
\napartheid era. Musical performances required the separation of
\neach race into their respective categories and the mixing of
\nraces in many forums was illegal.<\/p>\n
The authorities made it difficult to hold even small-scale
\npublic concerts. The barriers set up by the state to prevent
\nlocal black musicians from building an audience were severe and
\neffective.<\/p>\n
Ibrahim's refusal to tour abroad to act in support of the
\ngovernment's public relations machine shifted his status beyond
\nbeing merely one of his country's most popular musicians.<\/p>\n
\"Cape Town has the Philharmonic Orchestra who were totally
\nwhite. They rehearsed on Thursday evening but they only allowed
\nus to sit back and learn,\" he told The Jakarta Post during a
\nmedia trip to South Africa in March.<\/p>\n
In early 1962, Ibrahim and his wife-to-be, vocalist Sathima
\nBea Benjamin, left South Africa as the political situation began
\nto deteriorate.<\/p>\n
Over the next three years, Ibrahim and Sathima lived for short
\nperiods in various places in Europe, but initially they settled
\ndown and shared gigs at a coffee house in Zurich.<\/p>\n
About a year into their stay in Switzerland, Sathima persuaded
\nthe touring Duke Ellington to come check out her boyfriend's
\nperformance at a local club.<\/p>\n
Four days later, the pianist and the Duke were in the Barclay
\nStudios in Paris where the former recorded a record for Reprise,
\nEllington's label of the time. He and his trio appeared at the
\nAntibes Jazz Festival in 1964.<\/p>\n
The same year saw Ibrahim working on compositions for a larger
\nensemble and his own music was advancing as well. While in
\nCopenhagen, he recorded for Alan Bates and Black Lion Records a
\nseries of trio records with fellow South Africans Johnny Gertze
\nand Makaya Ntshoko.<\/p>\n
The Black Lion dates were notable for their lyricism
\ninfluenced by Ellington, their alchemy inspired by Thelonious
\nMonk and intensity stoked by John Coltrane and the saxophonist's
\nconvictions.<\/p>\n
His progress during 1965 was also overshadowed by new laws in
\nSouth Africa banning all racial mixing. It was now impossible for
\nIbrahim to present his music in his homeland performed by a big
\nband of South African musicians.<\/p>\n
In 1965, Ellington urged him to come to the United States,
\nwhich he did to play a notable solo concert at Carnegie Hall.
\nLater that year he received the highest tribute by being invited
\nto fill the piano chair of the Duke Ellington Orchestra during
\nits east coast tour.<\/p>\n
\"I did five dates substituting for him. It was exciting but
\nvery scary, I could hardly play,\" he was quoted in
\nwww.enjarecords.com as saying.<\/p>\n
He converted to Islam in 1968 and received the honored name,
\nAbdullah Ibrahim.<\/p>\n
Ibrahim and Sathima settled in Swaziland in 1971, yet Ibrahim
\nwas often on the road touring and recording. The Ibrahim family
\nreturned to Cape Town in 1973.<\/p>\n
Between 1974 and 1976, he made his last recordings with South
\nAfrican musicians including a stirring vamp \"Mannenberg\" (which
\nwas reissued in the United States under the title \"Capetown
\nFringe\") that became the anthem of the post-Soweto uprising in
\nthe 1976 era with its uncompromising evocation of the people's
\nlife and hope amongst the death and despair of the government's
\nbrutal repression of the black uprising in Sharpeville.<\/p>\n
Artist in exile<\/p>\n
Ibrahim made the irrevocable decision in 1976 to exile himself
\nand his family in protest against the government's violent
\nrepression of racial minorities and the horrible conditions in
\nhis country.<\/p>\n
In the United States, he became among the most prominent
\nartists-in-exile from South Africa, its dictatorship and the
\npolitical and social enslavement of apartheid. He refused to
\nreturn until South Africa held democratic elections.<\/p>\n
Seven years after the 1994 election which saw the first black
\npresident, Ibrahim's main concern has shifted to educating the
\nyouth to preserve the South African musical heritage.<\/p>\n
So last April, he initiated the M7 academy. The M7 stands for
\nmusic, movement, martial arts, medicine, menu, meditation and the
\nMasters.<\/p>\n
\"During the apartheid era, many back people refused to go into
\na music school or medical school. That's the whole idea to start.<\/p>\n
\"Today, some of the township people, even adults, never
\nattended a music performance and this was the first time they
\ncame here for music,\" he told the Post.<\/p>\n
In his academy, students receive formal training in music
\nreflecting jazz and African heritage. But M7 has also developed a
\nholistic curriculum.<\/p>\n
Thus training, nurturing and developing musicians in
\ndisciplines as far reaching as dance, nutrition, self-defense,
\nholistic healing and meditation are critical to any successful
\nmusic career, according to the academy's official website
\nwww.m7.co.za.<\/p>\n
\"M7 is my major concern, that we can leave something for the
\nyounger generation. I've put my own money into this academy,\" he
\nsaid.<\/p>\n
He also said that all that was missing was proper musical
\ninstruments.<\/p>\n
The academy is located in the City Hall which houses the Cape
\nTown City Library, including the Central Music Library and a hall
\nwith recording facilities.<\/p>\n
For further information on the concert, please contact the
\nSouth African Embassy, seventh floor, Wisma GKBI, Jl. Jendral
\nSudirman 28, South Jakarta (tel. 5740660).<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/jazz-musician-ibrahim-a-study-in-survival-1447893297",
"image": ""
},
"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
}