A supremely important & influential cultural icon has departed from the planet. I have so much to say about Abdullah Ibrahim (aka Dollar Brand) but I’ll simply take this opportunity to implore anyone unfamiliar to get acquainted b/c this music will change your life. Some of his best work is, sadly, not presently found on the streaming platforms but, perhaps, now that he’s gone the super geniuses will understand it’s crucial to make it all freely available. It’s ok–enough of his immense catalog is there (and otherwise online) for you to get a taste.
I was already a huge fan in my mid 20s, because I’d learned a thing or two by then and knew enough to know when I was confronted by genre-defining genius. I was fortunate to catch him live in DC (late 90s) and he was already in full Lion in Winter (late autumn?) mode, a regal, quietly powerful presence, like the piano wasn’t just his instrument of choice but the only vessel that human beings could access the translations he was channeling from some other place. This was world music before that became a cliche, at once the epitome of jazz and something totally different. Music that changes the way you hear everything that came before and after; music that changes you, period. I can’t say enough; I’ve said too much. Trust me and seek this out.
