Mukashi. Once Upon A Time

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multikulti.com:
Dla muzyki Afryki Południowej Abdullah Ibrahim jest kimś o tak fundamentalnym znaczeniu, kim dla polskiego jazzu był Krzysztof Komeda. A może nawet bardziej, bo warto przypomnieć, że jego kompozycja "Manneberg", inspirowana muzyką Marabi, która rozkwitała w townshipach Johannesburga i Kapsztadu, stała się nie tylko wielkim przebojem w RPA, ale także hymnem ruchu przeciwko apartheidowi i nieoficjalnym hymnem RPA. Jej wielkim fanem był sam Nelson Mandela.

Naukę gry fortepianie rozpoczął w wieku siedmiu lat. Profesjonalnym muzykiem jazzowym został w 1949. W 1959-1960 grał razem z Kippie Moeketsi w zespole The Jazz Epistles w Sophiatown. W 1960 nagrali album, który był pierwszą płytą nagraną kiedykolwiek przez czarnoskórych mieszkańców RPA. Od początku 60-tych lat żył na emigracji, mieszkał w Europie i USA, by po upadku apartheidu wrócić do ojczyzny i zamieszkać w Kapsztadzie.

Najnowsza płyta pod tytułem "Mukashi (Once upon a time)" to doświadczenie istotności pojedynczego gestu, akordu, każdej pojedynczej nuty, a nawet ciszy. Jest wielkim orędownikiem filozofii Zen, jednym z koncertowych wymogów pianisty jest zapewnienie wyciszonego pokoju do medytacji praktykowanej przed koncertami.

Japońskie słowo "Mukashi" można przetłumaczyć na polski "dawno, dawno temu...". Jest to więc swoiste rozpoczęcie opowieści. A opowieść Abdullaha Ibrahima wypływa z wieloletniej fascynacji japońską kulturą i religią. Jest to bodaj najbardziej medytacyjny album w bogatej dyskografii tego giganta jazzu, którego promotorem był Duke Ellington.

Szesnaście krótkich kompozycji, w różnych wariantach instrumentalnych w subtelny i przemyślany sposób wprowadza słuchacza w kontemplacyjny nastrój. Jest to muzyka emanowująca wewnętrznym spokojem, ale także radością i pasją tworzenia. Abdullah Ibrahim z dojrzałością niekwestiowanego mędrca wie, że muzyka kryje się tak naprawdę pomiędzy dźwiękami. Dlatego muzycy zespołu nigdzie sie nie spieszą, pozwalają wybrzmiewać zarówno dźwiękom, jak i ciszy. Odkrywają potęgę pojedynczych nut i prostych brzmień.

Recenzent amerykańskiego JazzTimes napisał o płycie "Abdullah Ibrahim playing with the profound simplicity and unadorned expression of a Zen koan”. Trudno nie zgodzic się z tą opinią.Na płycie poza liderem grającym na fortepianie i flecie usłyszymy dwójkę wiolonczelistów - Eugena Bazijana i Scotta Rollera oraz Cleave'a Guytona na saksofonach, flecie i klarnecie.


Editor's info:
He will turn 79 on October 9, 2013. That fact that someone has experienced a lot by this age goes without saying. However, this applies more for some people than for others. Abdullah Ibrahim can justifiably claim that he has not only experienced history, but also shaped it. Born in the middle of South African apartheid in 1934, he started to play piano in his native country under the name "Dollar Brand" at that time, his name at birth was "Adolphe Johannes Brand". He soon became known in South Africa, which was more dangerous than helpful as a member of a majority terrorized by a minority. He left his country in 1962, and Duke Ellington arranged for him to go to America a few years later. An international career started after that, which only few living jazz musicians can look back on. That fact that he played at the inauguration of Nelson Mandela after the abolition of apartheid was only logical.

Abdullah Ibrahim created his own, inimitable style, which Konrad Heidkamp (DIE ZEIT) described once as follows: Ibrahim is "a magician of repetition, and a complete landscape is behind every tone." This enchanting power blossomed in every recording, regardless of whether as soloist, in duet (the 1978 album with Archie Shepp is legendary), with his band Ekaya, with big band and even with orchestral accompaniment. However, hearing him in a small group remains the most intensive experience.

As on this CD, on which the man – the man, whom we may legitimately call a legend – tells the story of his life alone, in a duet and in a trio. The title already points this out: Mukashi, Japanese for "Once Upon A Time". A retrospective, filled with memories, which does not always put you in a cheerful mood, but instead often makes you become melancholic and sad. This includes the recent death of his wife, who passed away in the summer 2013.
Tones that fall like drops in a stalactite cave, which build mighty stalactites despite their slowness if you take the trouble to pay attention to them. Chords of a clarity that touch you. Melodies with an absolutely sensual force.

Hardly any musician knows Ibrahim so well as his companion of many years Cleave Guyton, who sensitively takes up the thoughts of the pianist and plays around them. However, Ibrahim also sought another dab of sound, new textures and an instrument that can create fragile levels of sound, and he thought of the cello. Two masters of the trade with great expertise in all genres, Eugen Bazijan and Scott Roller, fit sensitively into the musical world and complement the recordings wonderfully.

JazzTimes:
On the eve of his 80th birthday and less than a year after the death of his wife, singer Sathima Bea Benjamin, South African piano great Abdullah Ibrahim has released his starkest, most reflective collection to date. Mukashi is a Japanese word that translates as “Once upon a time,” and the album finds Ibrahim in an unmistakably nostalgic mood tinted by his longtime fascination with Japanese culture. Never one for unnecessary gestures, Ibrahim here plays with the profound simplicity and unadorned expression of a Zen koan.The CD’s 16 short tracks are arranged for various combinations of the pianist with wind player Cleave Guyton and a pair of cellists. Ibrahim finds a wealth of diverse riches in this seemingly limited palette, “Dream Time” is a lush chamber piece while “Matzikama” plays with the contrast of dark and light, Ibrahim’s bluesy piano versus Guyton’s breathy flute, one low somber cello against the other’s shimmering highs.Ibrahim revives his classic pieces “Peace” and “Serenity” and offers solo renditions of the standards “The Stars Will Remember” and “Cara Mia,” the former with diamond-like clarity, the latter with the warm caress of a lullaby. “Trace Elements/For Monk” keeps the spirit of Thelonious hovering just over his shoulder, and the stormier solo piece “Root” is shot through with whispers of Cape Town, conjuring the former Dollar Brand’s long and troubled past with his native country. That is further explored in the three-part suite Krotoa, named for a 17th-century Cape Town girl encountering settlers for the first time. Whatever pain the past holds for Ibrahim, however, he ends with the buoyant brightness of “The Balance,” which carries only the faintest traces of bittersweet memory.
By Shaun Brady

allaboutjazz.com * * * * *:
Japan and South Africa were never so close. The acclaimed pianist and flautist Abdullah Ibrahim fused the Asian zen calmness with stories and inspiration from his native homeland in his latest album Mukashi.Mukashi translates in Japanese as "Once upon a time" is a very appropriate title considering Ibrahim's impressive storytelling skills, as well as the visual evocations of the record."Krotoa" is one of the most interesting tracks of the album and it is split in three. Krotoa is the name of a 17th Century Cape Town young girl from the tribe of the Khoikhoi in South Africa and the melody is about her encounters with the European settlers.The most surprising and emotional part of "Krotoa" is a solo piano track titled "Endurance." Its sound evokes perfectly the resilience of South Africans against the Apartheid, which Ibrahim opposed since the beginning of his career. In fact, Nelson Mandela's lawyer smuggled some of Ibrahim's music to jail when he was imprisoned. Mandela was inspired in melodies like "Mannenberg" to keep on fighting for equal rights for the colored community in the 70's and 80's."Serenity" is one of the most interesting melodies of the record. Ibrahim plays luminous notes on his piano, while Cleave Guyton brings a sound that fluctuates between warm and mysterious.The influence of American Jazz and culture in Ibrahim's music can be better appreciated in "Mississippi," in which Cleave Guyton's clarinet is the lead instrument and he plays it joyfully. Ibrahim's piano serves as a loyal and wise companion.Abdullah Ibrahim—whose birth name is Adolph Johannes Brand—also included "Peace" in his album. The theme's description "the ebb and flow of nature" is coherent with the delicate sheets of sound in the piece."Trace Elements / For Monk" is dedicated to the late pianist Thelonius Monk, an Ibrahim friend and one of his main influences, as well as Duke Ellington.The sweet sound of Cleave Guyton's flute is guided by Scott Roller's cello in "The Balance," the last melody of Mukashi. The tracks is really a lullaby and a sonic balm for the soul. Ibrahim seems to be waving and smiling, while he plays scarce but beautiful notes on his piano.Mukashi's sound is virtuous without being pretentious, just like Abdullah Ibrahim, considered by many critics the King of South African Jazz.
By GABRIEL MEDINA ARENAS


popMATTERS 7/10:
The music of South African pianist Abdullah Ibrahim is a world unto itself. Although Ibrahim has followers and intersects with a “Cape jazz” scene that has identifiable characteristics, he long ago became a figure like his hero Duke Ellington: a man whose sound as a composer and player is unmistakable.Ibrahim’s latest, Mukashi (Once Upon a Time), is as unique as anything he has recorded. It is a piece of chamber jazz for solo piano, piano, and one reed (flute, clarinet, or saxophone), or piano with cellos and a reed. It combines a number of Ibrahim’s interests and loves in music, including a melodic strain that evokes the east—also evoked by the title of the album and its first song, the Japanese word for “once upon a time.”This disc does tell stories. A short three-part suite for solo piano, “Krotoa”, tells the story of a Cape Town girl encountering settlers for the first time. The first part seems to ask a series of innocent questions, Ibrahim’s right hand playing a set of two-note intervals that pop upward and then downward in query. The music is very spare and full of space, open to an answer. The second portion, “Devotion”, is a tender set of harmonic movements that feels tentative and hopeful at the same time. Finally, “Endurance” combines a brightness, a degree of sunshine, with a spikier set of chords and clusters, dissonances that suggest that that the little girls is no longer so wide-eyed.Other stories here seem to be Ibrahim’s musical tales of influence or discovery. “Mississippi” is a soulful and cheerful song that mashes gospel feeling to the blues, with Cleave Guyton’s clarinet evoking New Orleans just enough. Cello plays a pizzicato line like a jazz player as Ibrahim stabs chords and outlines the flow of blues feeling. “Trace Elements / For Monk” is of course for the other great pianist who Ibrahim is indebted to, and it takes the form of a luxurious but angular ballad that shifts into a simple set of steps that move downward for flute, cello, and piano—a clever kind of tribute that sounds as much like Erik Satie as like the bop pianist.Most of the songs here, however, tell stories about Ibrahim’s past as much as they trace his influences. “Peace” moves like a stately essay on Ibrahim’s native harmonies and melodic tendencies, first on piano only, then just for flute and cello. “Root” is a variant on Ibrahim’s most famous tune, “Mannenberg”—a dancing movement that reharmonizes the part of that older song that everyone knows best.The most elaborate of the arrangements on Mukashi are a bit more lush, with clarinet and cello harmonizing and the movement of different pieces orchestral, for instance, on “In the Evening”. “The Balance” is even more enjoyable, a final song that is playful and blue at once, a little tap dance of a song.There is very little improvising on this recording, though Ibrahim’s solo piano work contains lyrical flights that are not scripted. But it remains that Mukashi sounds like a set of sketches, simple line drawings that aren’t meant to be elaborated on all that much. The miniaturism of the recording is its strength, its charm, its grace. The quiet of the songs is what draws you in to listen a bit closer. And while the pleasant sway of Ibrahim’s township sound is still here, this is more like a recording of tenderness, a recording of gentle ease.This year, Abdullah Ibrahim will reach his 80th birthday, and Mukashi sounds both like the kind of mature, focused effort that might come from a man who is about to retire and like something new, something fresh. Ibrahim is painting with a different set of colors on this record, forging a slightly new sound, bridging to a different culture, too. And that kind of expansion of effort is a boost to any listener—a sign that jazz is a music that renews as much as anything. This music will give your ears a sense of lift, gentle lift.
by Will Layman