The Balance
Big band, township music and solo piano, his first album in five years.
Abdullah Ibrahim, 2019
- Released
- 28 June 2019
- Studio
- RAK Studio One
- Label
- Gearbox
- Length
- 37:49
His first album after five years, released by Gearbox. DownBeat's Tamar Sella found it spanned big band, township music and solo piano, with three solo piano pieces including Tonegawa. She wrote that on the full-band pieces the pianist laid back and played the briefest of solos. Tuang Guru and Song for Sathima, both also on Water From An Ancient Well, are recorded again here, the second with Cleave Guyton Jr. taking the lead after Ibrahim introduces it. The Wall Street Journal headlined its review A Jazz Master Continues to Grow.
Track listing
- Dreamtime4:06
- Nisa6:37
- Jabula3:43
- Tuang Guru5:11
- Tonegawa3:33
- Song for Sathima4:11
- ZB22:04
- Skippy5:35
- Devotion2:56
- The Balance3:04
Personnel
- Abdullah Ibrahim piano
- Noah Jackson bass, cello
- Alec Dankworth bass
- Will Terrill drums
- Cleave Guyton Jr. alto saxophone, flute, piccolo
- Lance Bryant tenor saxophone
- Marshall McDonald baritone saxophone
- Andrae Murchison trombone
- Adam Glasser harmonica
More from Abdullah Ibrahim
Duke Ellington Presents the Dollar Brand Trio (1964), African Piano (1973), Mannenberg - Is Where It's Happening (1974), Water From An Ancient Well (1986)
Sources
- The Balance, DownBeat (2019-08)
- Pianist Abdullah Ibrahim crafted a magnificent new culture for South Africa, The Conversation (2026-06-15)