Abdullah Ibrahim

• 180 GRAM GATEFOLD JAPANESE EDITION WITH OBI

The Balance is the first album that Abdullah Ibrahim has recorded in his 80s – he is now 84. The last release was nearly five years ago, the solo piano album The Song is My Story released at the end of 2014. And before that his most recent group album was Sotho Blue, released in 2010. This new album by the South African legend was recorded in a single day last November at RAK Studios in St. John’s Wood in London.

The Balance combines old and new tunes. As ideas go, this one has quite some pedigree for Abdullah Ibrahim. As he told one interviewer (Larry Blumenfeld) recently, “Duke showed me the importance of presenting both old and new material, side by side, and of performing the older songs as if they were new and the newer ones like they were familiar.”

PERSONNEL:

• Abdullah Ibrahim - piano
• Noah Jackson - double bass, cello
• Alec Dankworth - double bass (3, 10)
• Will Terrill - drums
• Adam Glasser- harmonica (10)
• Cleave Guyton Jr. - alto saxophone, flute, piccolo
• Lance Bryant - tenor saxophone
• Andrae Murchison - trombone
• Marshall McDonald - baritone saxophone

TRACKS:

• SIDE A:
• A1. Dreamtime
• A2. Nisa
• A3. Jabula
• A4. Tuang Guru
• A5. Tonegawa

• SIDE B:
• B1. Song For Sathima
• B2. ZB2
• B3. Skippy
• B4. Devotion
• B5. The Balance