Abdullah Ibrahim was born and raised in District Six.
South African jazz icon Abdullah Ibrahim will perform on Friday April 12 at the Cape Town City Hall, at 8pm.
He will return home to South Africa after a five-year absence to give a series of concerts in April, as part of a world tour.
“To be launching my M7 Foundation in Johannesburg, playing concerts in Pretoria’s new state-of-the-art arena and uniquely returning to performing inside City Hall – an illustrious venue I first played at aged 16 for a segregated audience – is something that at one time was unimaginable. I am honoured and thrilled to have the opportunity,” he says.
“As I embrace my 90th year, I am delighted to be undertaking these concerts… for me, they are a deeply personal dream - envisaged first many years ago. Perhaps when as a free South African I bought land, or perhaps so many years before that when I was forced to exile? But certainly, I was thrown into sharp relief during the Covid pandemic, when I wondered if, or when, I would see ‘home’ again.”
The artist recently released his latest album. Entitled 3, it's a recording of two sets from London’s Barbican Hall. Cleave Guyton Jr on flute and piccolo, and Noah Jackson on bass and cello make up the trio and are featured on both sets with Ibrahim. The album includes the much-loved tracks Nisa, Barakat and many more.
Tickets cost from R750. Book through Ticketpro.