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Born in Capetown SA, Abdullah Ibrahim is a
major figure in the history of South African
music;in 1960 he recorded the first modern SA
jazz album with the Jazz Epistles, alongside Hugh
Masekela and Jonas Gwangwa. In 1968 he became a
Muslim and changed his name from Dollar Brand.
During the 70's he toured the world and became an
exile in New York following the SA State of
Emergency in 1976. He now lives in Capetown again.
I met him at WOMAD last year and asked him:
During your years of exile, you played with many
great SA musicians; what are your memories of
this generation of musicians such as Johnny
Dyani, many of whom have now left us?
Johnny was an incredible musician;
he was one of the young generation who left SA in
64- Dudu Pukwana, Chris McGregor, Mongezi Feza,
they've all died in exile. Apartheid killed them,
because they had to go into exile to keep playing
music - the ANC asked us to go abroad and
preserve our culture, which was in danger of
disintegrating. But most of these musicians
didn't have any academic background so once they
were in exile they had to depend on their
instruments to survive. They were away from their
families so they couldn't count on help. That's
why I say apartheid killed them.
What are your thoughts on SA today?
We are in the process of changing
our country ourselves; we cannot count on outside
help. For many years we were involved in an armed
struggle, but now we need to turn our swords into
plough-shares. SA is the only country in the
world where we can change things from the
grassroots up; SA is the last frontier of
humanity. We're not facing just a question of
black and white; it's a question of the human
race. We have been given the task of dismantling
apartheid, and apartheid isn't just a question of
colour, it's a problem of 'separation'. Islam
speaks of the unity of everything. This unity is
in music, this energy which circulates not just
within us but between us. This energy links
everything. The concept of apartheid goes against
the unity of everything; it started when some
people believed that one could separate
everything - a monoculture was imposed which
destroyed the mutual relationships in the world.
Today there is a project in Natal where a
traditional farmer is working with women to
restore traditional farming culture; everyone has
their own plot of land and are being taught the
traditional techniques of complementary farming,
so there is no need for chemicals or pesticides.
It's a big success. Whereas under apartheid, they
practiced monoculture which forgot a fundamental
truth, that the universe is a unity. Apartheid
divided everything. This problem is not confined
to SA; it exists everywhere. Everyone in the
world must tackle this problem of separation
which exists inside everyone; it's not just a
problem for governments or other people. The
entire human race is involved. How can we change
our hearts and minds? That's the root of it. I
believe that SA is the model for the entire world.
Everything is now being discussed in the public
arena, not behind closed doors. In November 1997
we gave a concert in caves near the Swaziland
border; these caves are a natural amphitheatre,
more than 250 million years old. If you compare
these caves to colonialism, which only lasted 400
years, these 400 years are nothing. Time is the
great liberator. That is the glory of Africa.
What are your current projects in SA?
We've set up a conservatory in
Capetown, using the Town Hall and the 6th floor
of our record company. This international
conservatory offers the chance to study lots of
things besides music; we teach the future
musicians composition, and also how to take
control of their own marketing, promotion, PR,
herbal medicine, foreign languages. So we're not
aiming to create a country of musicians, we're
trying to empower people. We want to move
people's hearts as well as their minds, and music
is the resource we can use. We see music as the
way of empowering people, so that they can play
an active part in society. For us, music isn't
about hit records or superstars; it's an integral
part of daily life. In SA, music is everywhere;
it's not just a separate activity, it's an
integral part of life. SA is the only place in
the world where a revolution has been made to the
accompaniment of four-part harmonies!
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