Abdullah Ibrahim : NPR

Abdullah Ibrahim: Tiny Desk (Home) Concert

Abdullah Ibrahim performs a Tiny Desk (home) concert Abdullah Ibrahim hide caption

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Abdullah Ibrahim

Tiny Desk

Abdullah Ibrahim: Tiny Desk (Home) Concert

March 9, 2022 • This performance by the celebrated South African pianist and NEA Jazz Master reflects on the past and helps clarify the present.

Finding 'The Balance': Jazz Legend Abdullah Ibrahim Looks To Past, Present And Future

Abdullah Ibrahim's latest album, The Balance, is out now. Marina Umari/Courtesy of the artist hide caption

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Marina Umari/Courtesy of the artist

Music Interviews

Finding 'The Balance': Jazz Legend Abdullah Ibrahim Looks To Past, Present And Future

June 30, 2019 • NPR's Lulu Garcia-Navarro speaks with legendary South African pianist Abdullah Ibrahim about his latest album, The Balance.

Finding 'The Balance': Jazz Legend Abdullah Ibrahim Looks To Past, Present And Future

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Abdullah Ibrahim: How Improvisation Saved My Life

NPR

Best of NPR Animations

Abdullah Ibrahim: How Improvisation Saved My Life

Jazz at Lincoln Center

October 13, 2017 • The pianist and composer shares his insights on growing up in apartheid-era South Africa and what freedom means to him today.

Abdullah Ibrahim: How Improvisation Saved My Life

57:15

The Legacy Of The Jazz Epistles, South Africa's Short-Lived But Historic Group

Jonas Gwangwa with Hugh Masekela and Kippie Moeketsi. Halim's Photographic Service, Cape Town BAHA/Drum Social Histories / Baileys African History Archive / Africa Media Online hide caption

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Halim's Photographic Service, Cape Town BAHA/Drum Social Histories / Baileys African History Archive / Africa Media Online

Jazz Night In America

The Legacy Of The Jazz Epistles, South Africa's Short-Lived But Historic Group

WBGO

April 26, 2017 • Hugh Masekela and Abdullah Ibrahim, two of the biggest stars to emerge from South Africa, achieved success independently. But the two are cosmically linked by a single 1960 recording session.

The African Jazz Pioneers kick it, South Africa style. Photo Illustration: Lars Gotrich; photos: Intuition Records, iStock. hide caption

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Photo Illustration: Lars Gotrich; photos: Intuition Records, iStock.

Take Five: By Region

Kick It Up With South African Jazz

WESA

June 15, 2010 • From June 11 to July 11, nine cities in South Africa are hosting the 2010 FIFA World Cup. The excitement has stretched from Johannesburg to Pretoria and the world over. In honor of the world coming together to celebrate soccer in the "rainbow nation," here's a chance to sample four South African jazz artists and one of the World Cup performers.

Mulatu Astatke just released a new album with The Heliocentrics. Funkhaus Europa hide caption

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Funkhaus Europa

Take Five: A Jazz Sampler

Jazz Out Of Africa

WESA

July 6, 2009 • Jazz music was born in America in the early 20th century, evolving out of a meeting of African and European music traditions. Once the style began to develop around the world, jazz found its way back to Africa. Hear five of Africa's best jazz musicians, including Mulatu Astatke.

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Take Five: A Jazz Sampler

Make Peace, Make Jazz

Jazz24

September 8, 2008 • In 1982, the UN began observing "Peace Day" every September at the opening of its General Assembly. In 2002, it officially declared Sept. 21 as a permanent date for the International Day of Peace. In preparation, here are five beautiful jazz performances that celebrate the spirit of the occasion.

Musicians in Their Own Words

Abdullah Ibrahim Stays Rooted to His Homeland

August 26, 2007 • South African pianist and composer Abdullah Ibrahim grew up in Cape Town, but spent much of his life in exile. Inspired by Duke Ellington, Ibrahim's sound became more deeply rooted in Africa.

Abdullah Ibrahim Stays Rooted to His Homeland

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All Songs Considered

Wilco side projects, Abdullah Ibrahim, Gidon Kremer

February 3, 2003 • Down With Wilco and The Minus Five; Latvian violin virtuoso Gidon Kremer; Celtic country bluegrass from Ponticello; South African pianist Abdullah Ibrahim; Folk rock adventurer Patty Larkin and more.

Wilco side projects, Abdullah Ibrahim, Gidon Kremer

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