Cape Town, South Africa – March 09, 2016: Black Major Artist Management today announced the release of a new short film on the musical philosophy of legendary South African jazz pioneer, Abdullah Ibrahim.
Directed by Ian Henderson of local production company THINKFILM, the production centres around a secret street performance by Ibrahim at Cape Town’s Church Square. The film lifts a veil on the pianist in a deeply contemplative mood, reflecting on the spirit and source of his music. He has maintained a lifelong dedicated to the Budo martial arts form, training for more than fifty years under a Japanese master, and themes from both music and Budo are deeply intertwined throughout the film.
The performance itself became an unexpected viral sensation, featuring on the front page of major newspapers throughout the country, and trending on Twitter.
“At a stage in his career when many contemporaries have retired from active performance,” says Sevi Spanoudi, Ibrahim’s manager, “Abdullah continues a single-minded pursuit of musical transcendence. We wanted to go beyond the scope of traditional music documentaries, and capture a sense of the rich depth behind his music. You’ll want to watch it in a quiet space – it has a meditative quality that’s at odds with our rushed lives – much like Abdullah’s music.”
Abdullah Ibrahim recent visit to his home town of Cape Town saw him perform a solo concert to a delighted audience at the open air Maynardville amphitheatre in December, and he has just completed a sold out tour of the UK and Ireland. In mid-April Abdullah begins a series of dates in the United States, including a residency at the prestigious Library of Congress in Washington DC.
The film can be seen on Ibrahim’s newly launched website at http://abdullahibrahim.co.za which also has information on upcoming tour dates and updated news.
