Ekapa Lodumo

The music of Abdullah Ibrahim, the great pianist and composer from South Africa, possesses hypnotic power. Says Ibrahim: "I am a pilot. I direct my passengers to the dark corners of their souls, to places where they usually don't dare to go." With African rhythms meeting melodies of pure beauty, his music is original and simple, intense and meditative at the same time and open to transformations into many formats. On "Ekapa Lodumo", Ibrahim presents some of his greatest compositions with one of Europe's best jazz orchestras, the NDR Big Band. His cooperation with NDR (North German Radio) started back in 1968 with a TV workshop and included several concerts, workshops and productions over the years. Says British arranger Steve Gray: "The nice thing about working at NDR is that you meet your heroes there. That holds for both the NDR band, my favorite big band, and for a musician like Abdullah Ibrahim. I grew up with his sound."