African Piano [Import, Live]

Dollar Brand Duo, Abdullah Ibrahim | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (August 18, 1999)
• Original Release Date: 1999
• Number of Discs: 1
• Format: Import, Live
• Label: Universal Japan
• ASIN: B000042O4V
• In-Print Editions: Audio CD  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,642,193 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Track Listings

1. Bra Joe from Kilimanjaro

2. Selby That the Eternal Spirit Is the Only Reality

3. The Moon

4. Xaba

5. Sunset in Blue

6. Kippi

7. Jabulani (Easter Joy)

8. Tintiyana

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars His finest album, September 17, 2001

By 

David Gary Roberts (Oakland, CA USA) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: African Piano (Audio CD)

An (almost) solo live gig recorded in a Scandinavian jazz club accompanied by much loud eating, drinking and conversation. It's hard to believe that anyone with a working set of ears would not be completely transfixed by this intense and committed performance - my meatballs would have certainly remained untouched until the last note had faded away. Thankfully, the background noise does not interfere with the listeners enjoyment. I first heard this record 20 years ago and even though I spent several of those years without a copy, the indelible impression left by this blend of South African folk melodies and modern jazz sensibility bound together with a constant muscular, supple rhythmic pulse and an almost tangible spiritual sincerity, has kept it as one of my most beloved of all albums. A "must buy" for any Dollar Brand fan, along with "Good News From Africa", the excellent album of duets with bass player (and fellow South African) Johnny Dyani.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Dollar Brand 's 'African Piano' dances with your senses, November 19, 2000

By 

duncan spencer (Guernsey, Channel Islands, GB) - See all my reviews

This review is from: African Piano (Audio CD)

The South African born performer and composer, Dollar Brand (now Abdullah Ibrahim), starts his `African Piano' like some amiable pub pianist idly shuffling the keys of an old piano in the quiet corner of some down-town bar. This mood soon changes as the music develops into an incredibly hypnotic rhythm that dances with your senses and fills you with delight until the very end of the album. This is music that is impossible to categorise, a mix of jazz, blues, gospel, Arabic and traditional African folk tunes fused together to create a wonderfully evocative sound. For many, this music represented the optimism and hope of Soweto during the darkest days of apartheid. Abdullah Ibrahim's solo piano creates a multi-layered sound underlined by strong rhythms and enchanting melodies that seem to recapture the essential spirit of an African music that has escaped from that continent to blossom in the New World. To his many admirers, Abdullah Ibrahim is the `brother with perfect timing' and no other album demonstrates this accolade so well.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A powerful performance, August 24, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: African Piano (Audio CD)

An (almost) solo live gig recorded in a Scandinavian jazz club accompanied by much loud eating, drinking and conversation. It's hard to believe that anyone with a working set of ears would not be completely transfixed by this intense and committed performance - my meatballs would have certainly remained untouched until the last note had faded away. Thankfully, the background noise does not interfere with the listeners enjoyment. I first heard this record 20 years ago and even though I spent several of those years without a copy, the indelible impression left by this blend of South African folk melodies and modern jazz sensibility bound together with a constant muscular, supple rhythmic pulse and an almost tangible spiritual sincerity, has kept it as one of my most beloved of all albums. A "must buy" for any Dollar Brand fan, along with "Good News From Africa", the excellent album of duets with bass player (and fellow South African) Johnny Dyani.