Abdullah Ibrahim, the impishly dignified South African jazz piano legend, is on his African Magic tour, revisiting many of his familiar songs in the simple trio setting that suits their storytelling power so well.
Apartheid-era Ibrahim shows in the 1970s and 1980s fizzed and spat with urgency, but, in recent years, this unusual artist has delivered more minimalist tranquility than fiery dynamism. His recitals have turned into prolonged musical meditations, obliging audiences to slow their inner rhythms to his.
The African Magic trio - featuring Ibrahim regulars Belden Bullock on bass and George Gray on drums - played two sets at the Royal Festival Hall in which the pieces seamlessly flowed one into another, without breaks. Exquisite originals such as Tintinyana, The Wedding, Mindif, The Call and Mountain of the Night have been on Ibrahim's menu for years. However, their combination of hymn-harmonies, township party-music, African vocal sonorities (mimicked in dark, rumbling chords) and jazz inflections make them some of the most memorable world-jazz material written during the 20th century. They more than bear the repetition.
In the first half, Ibrahim at times barely seemed to stroke the keys, with the solemnly singing harmonies radiating around Bullock's warm bass sound and Gray's quietly precise drumming, castanet-like percussion effects and cymbal whispers. Occasionally, Ibrahim stirred into twisting double-time or a swelling thunder of chords, but it was a long second half that let that intensity out. Gray's pin-sharp cymbal sound emerged in surges of fast swing, and Ibrahim forgot his dignity enough to begin trading taut phrases and chord-clusters with him. Bright, bouncing tempos fell away abruptly to almost disconsolate reveries, then sprang up again as if they were guttering candles rekindled.
Rich though the material was, it risked being exploited to the edge of exhaustion in a 90-minute second half that could have used a snip here and there. However, the charisma and the track record of this unique jazz performer still speak volumes, and rapturous audiences know it. African Magic, that's right.
