Dollar Brand (Abdullah Ibrahim) - At Montreux (1981 Japanese Enja Vinyl LP)

Dollar Brand (Abdullah Ibrahim) - At Montreux | Vinyl LP - 1981 Japanese Enja (28MJ 3045, Polydor K.K.)

By 1980 Dollar Brand had been Abdullah Ibrahim for twelve years, performing and recording under both names depending on the context. His Montreux set moved between his South African Cape township inheritance and the modal jazz vocabulary he had built over two decades in Europe and America.

"Tsakve" lasts under two minutes, a statement of theme that functions as an arrival rather than a piece. "Whoza Mtwana" is the album's centrepiece. Ibrahim builds a bluesy piano riff from the first bar and sustains it while Ward and Harris layer above, Strobert's drumming building without shifting the groove's centre. "The Homecoming Song" and "The Wedding" on Side A are slower and more open, Ibrahim on sopranino saxophone in both, the harmonium-like quality of that instrument's upper register sitting distinctly above Ward's alto. "The Perfumed Forest Wet With Rain" opens Side B at nine minutes; "Ishmael" closes the record at ten, Gardner's bass the primary voice in the first two minutes before the full ensemble arrives.

Carlos Ward had previously worked with Ibrahim and Don Cherry, and the ease between them in the horn voicings across the set reflects that history. Craig Harris's trombone is used differently from the rest of the front line, closer to a textural element than a solo voice on most pieces.

This is the 1981 Japanese Enja pressing (28MJ 3045), manufactured by Polydor K.K.