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Recorded in late 1997, I got the opportunity to speak to the jazz crossover legend Abdullah Ibrahim.   

An interview, a mere three years into our young democracy, Abdullah lived through the thick of the apartheid mayhem, and here he runs his hands over the scars it left. He spoke frankly about his journey from leaving South Africa and establishing himself abroad, all of which was not easy by any stretch of the imagination.

 Abdullah is probably best recognised for his "Mannenberg" composition, a jazz piece that remains a highly revered anti-apartheid anthem to this day.  Cape Town Flowers, a trio setting, was the album he\\u2019d just released at the time. His second trio release \\u2013 the format was the link between the solo piano compositions and his other groups and symphony pieces. 

Here he talks through the flexibility that the trio offered and its formula. Not just one groove, a capturing of a mood that traversed the country \\u2013 improvising abounded.  Based in New York and Cape Town, Ibrahim\\u2019s mainstay fuel came from live performance across Europe and the United States. \\u201cWe can play anyway, and people respond to it in the same way." His music appeals to people from all walks of life and always will.   He speaks of settling, but not slowing down. 

At the time he had five more albums ready to go!  Personal aspiration and focused on the people who survived the struggle alongside him, Abdullah Ibrahim remains one of South Africa\'s finest exports, still.  

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