From the early 2000's until retirement in 2016, an emphasis on international growth sent me to various countries around the world; about 30 in all. The majority of my time on the majority of those trips was spent in airports, planes, hotel rooms, conference rooms and cabs. Tourist activities were generally limited to experiencing local epicurean fare. Many of the pictures I took were from the backseat window of a cab-on-the-go or a scene outside a hotel or company location.
However, there were times when a free day or two opened up opportunity to be a tourist. On one such ocassion, I ended a week of work in Dresden, Germany and had a free weekend before an appointment in Gottingen, Germany the following Monday. Having never been to Berlin, I hopped aboard a regional train (zug) to Berlin Friday evening, giving me all day Saturday and part of Sunday before catching a train to Goettigen Sunday evening.
Without a car, I primarily walked (alot) on my one-day Berlin tour. Among those things visited were Tiergarten park (Berlin's 500+acre central park) where, among other things, I took in the Brandenburg gate and Memorial to the Murdered Jews. As dusk settled in on a long day, returning to my hotel, I happened upon an expansive record store. At least that's what I still call them. It was heavenly, all the music, mostly CD's at the time, with ample headphone-facilitated listening stations. As evening settled in, I got the idea to discover music that I very likely would otherwise never know about, except that I was there in a record store in Berlin. This mindset being similar to what I've already mentioned in Finding New Tunes on Music Streaming Platforms. After an hour or so of music mining, I was only a few bars into The Very Best of Abdullah Ibrahim when I knew I'd experienced the special find I was looking for.
One of Ibrahim's songs highlighted in this blog's playlist is For John Coltrane. Two versions are presented. One instrumental, the other vocal with lyrics (provided below) revealing how much Abdullah Ibrahim revered John Coltrane.
For John Coltrane
This refrain
Spinning 'round
In my brain
echos of John Coltrane
Oh that wonderous sound
Will always be around
Gentle storm
Perfect form
John Coltrane
Love supreme
GIant step
Searching dream
Echos of John Coltrane
Of that wonderous sound
Eartly group
Heaven bound
Gentle storm
Perfect form
John Coltrane
Eastern sky
Deep southern ocean sigh
Echos of John Coltrane
Oh that wonderous sound
WIll always be around
Gentle storm
Bright star on
John Coltrane
Abdullah Ibramin
Abdullah Ibrahim , South Africa’s most distinguished pianist and a world-respected master musician, was born in 1934 in Cape Town and baptized Adolph Johannes Brand. His early musical memories were of traditional African Khoi-san songs and the Christian hymns, gospel tunes and spirituals that he heard from his grandmother, who was pianist for the local African Methodist Episcopalian church, and his mother, who led the choir. The Cape Town of his childhood was a melting-pot of cultural influences, and the young Dollar Brand, as he became known, was exposed to American jazz, township jive, CapeMalay music, as well as to classical music. Out of this blend of the secular and the religious, the traditional and the modern, developed the distinctive style, harmonies and musical vocabulary that are inimitably his own.
From notes Thom Jurek & Craig Harris: South African pianist, flutist, soprano saxophonist, and composer Abdullah Ibrahim's sound is instantly recognizable. His effervescent music reflects the influences of his childhood in Cape Town, ranging from township and traditional African folk songs to AME Church gospel to Indian ragas, modern jazz, and Western pop. He combines these with the elegant compositional flair of Duke Ellington, the canny harmonies and rhythms of Thelonious Monk, and the technical proficiency of a classical pianist. After beginning with the Jazz Epistles, Ibrahim escaped apartheid and emigrated to Europe in 1962. 1963's Duke Ellington Presents the Dollar Brand Trio established him there.
- Joan Capetown Flower (Emerald Bay)
- Blues For A Hip Hop King
- Chisa
- For John Coltrane (vocal)
- Zikr
- Zimbabwe (Live)
- Calypso Minor
- For Coltrane (instrumenta)
Notes
The audio player in this post, plays the audio portion of a YouTube Playlist.
This playlist is also available on the platforms indicated below and can be accessed by clicking any of their icons. Spotify, Pandora and YouTube all provide free, ad-supported accounts as well as paid, ad-free accounts.
Test comment by BBerry on Abdullah Ibrahim