The Abdullah Ibrahim Trio at 92NY

The Abdullah Ibrahim Trio
92NY
New York, NY
November 18, 2024

South Africa arguably offers the headiest jazz brew found beyond the borders of the U.S. And since the 2018 death of trumpeter Hugh Masekela, the undisputed elder statesman of the nation's jazz has been Masekela's former '50s Johannesburg band mate, Abdullah Ibrahim.

In a career that spans more than 70 years, the pianist's music has epitomized the unique hodgepodge that is the jazz of his homeland. South Africa's iteration of the music fuses American jazz to the country's own musical traditions—in particular the vibrant sounds of the townships around Cape Town, where Ibrahim grew up. And, in the '60s and '70s, just as American jazz gained inspiration from Black Power activism, South Africa's music was supercharged by the moral and political passion of the anti-apartheid movement.

Ibrahim migrated from South Africa to New York via Europe and made his mark in every jazz community. At home, he played in the groundbreaking Jazz Epistles and composed "Mannenburg." which became an anti-apartheid anthem. His long stint in New York has seen him maintain an acclaimed, long-standing band, Ekaya ("Home"), score the acclaimed 1988 Claire Denis film "Chocolat" and be named a National Endowment for the Arts Jazz Master in 2018.

If only Ibrahim's Friday concert at 92NY on Manhattan's Upper East Side better reflected his towering legacy. The pianist, who turned 90 this year, spent barely half of the 90-minute set actually playing. Instead, he all but ceded the stage to his bandmates, Cleave Guyton on reeds and flute and Noah Jackson on bass and cello. Both are capable players, but a set dominated by a band's accompanists playing alone as their leader looks on is an exercise in unfulfilled promise.

The concert's final piece, a trio version of the aforementioned "Mannenburg," is an unfortunate example. Ibrahim played a few bars of introduction before dropping out and leaving Guyton and Jackson to play the song's sinuous melody, and for each to solo. Ibrahim returned only to add a single note to the very end of the piece.

Ibrahim did perform a handful of solo pieces, (he's recorded at least 15 unaccompanied albums over his career), and one song in particular was the show's highlight. As a pianist, Ibrahim favors pastel lyricism—stylistically, his playing is more ECM Records than Blue Note, and, characteristically, "The Wedding" is far from the exuberant party piece that its title might suggest. Jettisoning the trio arrangement included on 3 (Gearbox Records, 2024), the fine two-disc album featuring Ibrahim, Guyton and Jackson, the pianist played the pensive ballad alone, wringing emotion from its lovely melodic theme. Ibrahim's seeming fragility made the performance all the more affecting.

Indeed, the evening had the air of a touching farewell. A majority of the near-sold-out house stood at the end, but chatter overheard as the crowd filed out suggested some people were more saluting Ibrahim's lifetime of work than celebrating this somewhat unsatisfying performance.