Abdullah Ibrahim – a legend of SA music's golden age - chats to Phumlani S Langa about his routine and thoughts under lockdown.
The slightly eccentric and vaunted pianist Abdullah Ibrahim – Mr Dollar Brand – is 85 years old and is one of the last living legends of South Africa’s golden age of music. His catalogue has more than 100 albums and his work will live on for decades to come.In a recent call, we picked his brain about the local art space and what he’s been up to during the national lockdown induced by the Covid-19 coronavirus.
“Nothing has really changed for me. I practise and practise, trying to perfect something that is not possible to perfect.He is also writing and continuously spending time in front of the piano. Ibrahim explained how he celebrated Africa Day this past Monday: “Africa Day for us is every day. We lock into our cosmology. I have a project called Ancient Traditions New Relevance.
Taking us back to the struggle days, he solemnly recalled: “That was challenging for everybody. I think we must acknowledge the people who sacrificed theirs [lives] for us. I’m looking at my grandmother, speaking of our African cosmology; it’s the grandmothers who carried that forward. She was the one who encouraged me to do the music, you know.Holding back a full chuckle, he said: “I never understand this Cape jazz thing. I tried to understand what it is. For us, it’s the process of connecting and reconnecting with ourselves.”
“The whole process is to lock ourselves into the natural rhythm of the universe. The moment you name something, you are bound by it.” Grae, a hip-hop artist, emcee, producer, actress and comedian based in Brooklyn, New York, has been signed to the likes of Talib Kweli.She is highly skilled, not in that Cardi B way, but she’s more Lauryn Hill in her approach.
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