Customer Reviews

Water From an Ancient Well

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
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This Abdullah Ibrahim album is a beautiful example of how he has fused African rhythms, voicings, and melodies to the song forms of American jazz, particularly of his mentor, Duke Ellington. This amalgam is best exemplified on his earlier masterpiece, African Marketplace, but it shines on selections like Mandela and Tuang Guru. The Wedding is one of his most luscious melodies. (My wife and I got married to it.) This is jazz that is barely classifiable--and still pleasant. I highly recommend it.

This wonderful CD is one of my favourite. As usual, Ibrahim blends truly African music to the highly westernized music form, jazz. This truly is jazz, but it, more than any other jazz music i've heard, begs us to think for a moment of all the injustice some people have had to go through. It does this in a similar way as Benigni's "La vita è bella" does to confront the Third Reich - with beauty and humour.
The title, gives us an idea of the concept - we see members of an african community, walk to and fro an ancient well for water. Their ancestors used to do this, and on this ground, the ancestors of all humankind lived some 150.000 years before. Its in Africa were our history begins - and its there where some of the greatest crimes have been commited. Let's remember that Ibrahim is from South Africa.
I've mentioned beauty, and there's beauty here all right. I'm not surprised that another critic here deemed "The Wedding" good enough for his own wedding. I think that's a wonderful idea - maybe I do it. But The Wedding (as The Mountain) can be found on several other of Ibrahim's recordings. There is another gem here, and that's the title song - its in my opinion huntingly beautiful, symbolic (musical term: programmatic) and brings out tears in my eyes.
Seldom has jazz music flown so high!

Although this cd has some African rhythms and influence, its sound is primarily western, showing a strong influence from Elington. The melodies are great, ranging from lively swing to mellow and contemplative. The Wedding is a wonderful piece, as is Tuang Guru - but the cd really has no low points. Ibrahim has a distinctive piano style, and the performance of the entire septet shines.

Sometimes we get to experience visual beauty by walking through a well-tended garden or viewing excellently composed art. In this album by Mr. Ibrahim he treats us to another form of beauty: he shares in his gift of melody. The individual passages he crafts in Water From an Ancient Well seem to tell the story of our lives. We hear them, they fill us with joy and gently move us with sadness. In these jewels we hear the ancient promise for a good tomorrow. My personal favorite: A Song for Sathima.