FEBRUARY 1

                 ABDULLAH IBRAHIM 
             The Dollar Brand Trio

                      Recording Date:
                             February 1963

                     Personnel:
                             Johnny Gertze     B
                             Abdullah Ibrahim  P
                             Makaya Ntshoko   D
                             Duke Ellington      Prod

            

                    LINK

Review by Scott Yanow

Pianist Abdullah Ibrahim (then known as Dollar Brand) was a newcomer to Europe in 1963, having recently left his homeland South Africa. His wife Bea Benjamin had persuaded Duke Ellington to see Brand perform, and he was so impressed that he produced Brand on a record date for Reprise with Dollar's trio (which included bassist Johnny Gertze and drummer Makaya Ntshoko), reissued on CD in 1997. Brand, who at the time was very influenced by Thelonious Monk and (to a lesser extent) Ellington, performs five originals plus Monk's "Brilliant Corners." Although his style was not as distinctive as it would become (there is little heard of his country's folk music), this is a consistently stimulating, exploratory and recommended, if (at 33-minutes) brief set.