Abdullah Ibrahim 90th Birthday Celebration
Counterpoint Series
November 15, 2024
Friday, 8 PM
92NY – 1395 Lexington Avenue, Manhattan
Doors: 7:30 PM | Show: 8 PM
Tickets: $40 | $50 | $65 – Member benefits apply – Member prices – $32 | $40 | $52
Co-presented with 92NY
Born in Cape Town, South Africa, pianist Abdullah Ibrahim was exposed to a melting pot of cultural influences: African traditional music, gospel tunes and spirituals, as well as classical, and American popular music. A lifelong activist who performed at the presidential inauguration of Nelson Mandela, he and his groundbreaking septet the Jazz Epistles (including the late Hugh Masekela) recorded the first jazz album by black South African musicians in 1959. Ibrahim explains that their work was ”inspired by American jazz musicians and popular songs but most importantly the legitimacy and vibrancy of our own African tradition”.
The COUNTERPOINT series focuses on contemporary artists who push the boundaries of what “world music” can mean in the 21st Century.