Sometimes a musical message is so urgent that questions of recording quality are almost beside
the point. Informally recorded in 1969 in a noisy club – Copenhagen’s famous Jazzhus
Montmartre – the flavour of this album is ‘documentary’ rather than luxuriantly hi-fidelity, yet the
essence of Abdullah Ibrahim’s communication comes through loud and clear. The listener is
drawn into the robust rhythms of his solo piano style, as he re-examines the history of jazz from a
South African perspective, with echoes of songs of the townships, and vamps that hint of Monk
and Duke and much more. African Piano was a highly influential album, and it has lost none of its
power.