Play 1 [3'42] : The consequences of apartheid for his life as a musician and for his friends.
Extract : "Little Boy" from the album "Autobiography Recorded Live June 18th 1978" (Plainisphare 2001).

Play 2 [2'59] : The establishment of the research centre M7 at Cape Town (music, alternative medicine, martial arts) and the links between all these fields.
Extract : "Soweto" from the album "Cape Town Revisited" (Enja records 2000).

Play 3 [3'48] : His religious education, his early career in music and his (re)conversion to Islam at the end of the 60s.
Extract : "Thaba Bosigo" (Mountain of the night) from the album "South Africa" (Enja records 1986).


Play 4 [2'58] : His collaboration with Claire Denis on the soundtrack for Chocolat, the link between musical composing and directing actors.
Extract from the album "Mindif" (Enja records 1988).

Play 5 [4'01] : The encounter between the Abdullah Ibrahim's jazz and classical music (the Munich symphonic orchestra conducted by Daniel Schnyder) ; his personal idea of music.
Extract : " African Marketplace " from the album "African Symphony" (Enja records 2001).

One of Duke Ellington's young protégés, discovered by chance by the American legend when playing in a Zurich club, South African musician Abdullah Ibrahim ("Dollar" Brand), born in 1934, is without a doubt one of the black continent's most talented pianists.
He spent his childhood listening to traditional African music, religious music and jazz.
Highly eloquent and deeply religious, he expresses his beliefs and experiences through his music.
Living between South Africa, Europe and the United States, this multi-instrumentalist (piano, saxophone, flute, cello) of a rather discreet nature accompanied us on a rare voyage through the key moments of his life.

Interview by Jérôme Sandlarz
May 2000