Cape Town Flowers

Description

Since some time, music producers have understood that the stylistic fusions of Eastern, African and jazz elements that are this artist’s hallmark are particularly well suited to film soundtracks or pop songs and other hip-hop groove samples. Since the recording (in 1963) of his First Record, Produced By Duke Ellington, Abdullah Ibrahim (who first called himself Dollar Brand) has become South Africa’s foremost musical ambassador and one of the world’s most brilliant pianists.
A seasoned veteran of ethno jazz or world jazz, his live-recorded 1995 production Yarona nonetheless represents a return to the classic piano trio format. Following the extraordinary success of Yarona (Jazz Journal: "A blessing", Jazzthetik *****), Ibrahim surprises with a new trio recording, as dynamic as it is focused, this time recorded in the studio of the legendary Rudy van Gelder. On Cape Town Flowers, a selection of his favorite titles sits alongside brand-new compositions - a document that remarkably illustrates the work of a composer and the virtuosity of this pianist and reveals as much his intuition for ensemble playing as the depth of his musician’s soul.
Abdullah Ibrahim has recorded more than twenty productions for Enja Records - solo piano, trio and quintet, jazz orchestra and chamber orchestra, not forgetting African Symphony with the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra