2023 Abdullah Ibrahim

At 88 years, Abdullah Ibrahim drew a huge crowd, filling the concert hall at the Kennedy Center on a Sunday evening. He began on solo piano, with floating melodies over hymn-like harmonies. Later, he was joined by a band of four horn players, a bass and a sax. The pattern throughout the evening was that Ibrahim rarely played with the band; rather, he played to set the mood for a tune or to bridge between tunes.

The band, Ekaya, blended like perfection to sound like one instrument. We were particularly impressed with the bass player, who lasted through a very long very high speed piece with at least four different solos. The bass player also doubled beautifully on cello.

The close of the set brought the audience to its feet for multiple ovations. And Ibrahim was perhaps a bit over the top in making sure his bandmates received their due.

Photo below from Wikimedia Commons.

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