INTERVIEW: Abdullah Ibrahim celebrates 80th birthday with Carnegie Hall concert

Abdullah Ibrahim, the famous South African jazz pianist, recently turned 80 years old, and Carnegie Hall is throwing him a weekend party that includes a solo concert, master class and performance featuring a trio, septet and big band. His appearances are part of a large month-long festival at Carnegie Hall and around New York City called Ubuntu: Music and Arts of South Africa.

In a recent interview with Hollywood Soapbox, Ibrahim promised his fans that the solo concert — set to take place in Zankel Hall Friday, Oct. 17 at 8:30 p.m. — will feature new material, older  songs and a lot of improvisation.

“My feeling about playing music is to get to a location [with] the audience, then decide where we can go because between me and the audience is a mutual exchange,” he said. “So I’m not there as a performer because we work together.”

Having turned 80 years old, one might think Ibrahim would become nostalgic, thinking about his decades in the chosen field and his many connections with his jazz contemporaries. Not exactly. He’s thankful for the accomplishments over the years, but he would rather focus on the future.

“Well, we’re grateful; mostly we are blessed. I remember [Duke] Ellington: Somebody was asking what is your best album, and he said, ‘the next one.’ And this is advice that we take from Duke. If we have done our best or look back on what we have done, then reminiscence on what’s the best achievement, there is nothing to look forward to for us.”

Ellington greatly influenced Ibrahim’s life, and the pianist still credits the jazz great as an inspiring presence to this day.

Ibrahim’s career, which began in Cape Town, South Africa, has taken him all over the world and back again. “We are living now in an era where almost like boundaries don’t matter anymore,” he said. “I have a much broader perception of music. That started even in South Africa when I was young. I remember I used to play old gramophone records. … There was one that I played over and over and over again. I didn’t know what it was because the label was all faded, and I used to listen to it incessantly much to the annoyance of other people. And years after I discovered that it was [Claude] Debussy … So the influence goes way beyond just being a local artist.”

In Cape Town, Ibrahim was 16 years old when a “very slick” car pulled up in front of the house. A group of “well-dressed young men” came to the door and talked to Ibrahim’s grandmother. They were looking for the young piano player at the residence and wanted to know if he would accompany them at a concert. “So I went with them, and we practiced,” he said. “There was a mutual liking, and after the concert, they gave me some money. I said, ‘Oh, that gives me an idea.’ That’s how the professional epic started.”

Continuing to play in Cape Town helped Ibrahim fine-tune his skills and broaden his perception of music. In South Africa, he had access to traditional African music from the different areas of South Africa and the nations of the continent. He also was influenced by music from Great Britain, the United States, India and China. “I played in dance bands, played for variety concerts and then branched off into my own, practicing solo piano,” he said.

Today, Ibrahim splits his time between South Africa and Germany. The Green Kalahari, where he lives in South Africa, was the title of a recent improvisation he recorded for an album. He commented on the natural beauty of this area of South Africa, in particular the stars and animals, calling it one of the most ancient places in the world.

At 80 years old, Ibrahim has no plans to slow down his travels or playing. “I have nothing else to do,” he said with a laugh. “I think musicians and healers and our mentors and wise men always say, ‘Do not stop because that is what … energizes you.’ And at 80 years, this age, I’m beginning to understand the process of playing one note.”

It doesn’t hurt that playing has become easier for the pianist. As a student of martial arts, Ibrahim and his teacher in Japan — a person he’s been training with for 50 years — emphasize the concept of “no mind.”

“If you think and you stop at something then the impetus is lost,” he said. “We understand now the deeper meaning of improvisation, so at this point we think improvisation is really meditation in motion. I think all the great players applied the same principle.”

By John Soltes / Publisher / John@HollywoodSoapbox.com

• Abdullah Ibrahim will play a solo concert at Zankell Hall at Carnegie Hall Friday, Oct. 17 at 8:30 p.m. On Saturday, Oct. 18 at 5 p.m., he will offer a master class in the Weill Music Room. On Monday, Oct. 20 at 7 p.m., he will offer a neighborhood concert with friends at Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture. Click here for more information.