Abdullah Ibrahim and Ekaya: Sotho Blue – review

The great South African pianist/composer Abdullah Ibrahim has often seemed to consign his enduring themes to glass cases in recent times, imparting to them an untouchably meditative solemnity. This session for the latest edition of Ibrahim's Ekaya band features classic originals like The Wedding and The Mountain, expressed in luxuriously deep-toned sax-and-trombone arrangements, developed in successions of individual solos that rarely accelerate past walking pace. The title track echoes the plush harmonies of a small Gil Evans group at times, with tenor saxist Keith Loftis revealing the melody stealthily, before applying a handful of purple-hued brushstrokes to it. Ibrahim's piano softly colours in the gentle chord-changes of the hymnal Abide and the timelessly atmospheric The Mountain, and though Nisa is a gently huffing deep-sax riff that stirs itself to a double-time baritone solo, the treatment of Bud Powell's Glass Enclosure emphasises that fascinating hybrid's classical aspects. It's all meticulously played, but it's worth noting that a more robust pre-Ekaya Abdullah band from 1980, featuring the superb Carlos Ward on alto sax, can also be heard on the reissued Dollar Brand at Montreux, on ENJA Jazz Classics.