Dollar Brand - Anatomy Of A South African Village (1999)

In the mid-1960's, Abdullah Ibrahim (then known as Dollar Brand) was an avant-garde pianist influenced by Thelonious Monk who was not yet displaying much of his South African heritage in his music. This CD reissue is quite valuable for Ibrahim (in a trio with bassist Johnny Gertze and drummer Makaya Ntshoko) performs the intriguing title cut, brief versions of "Smoke Gets In Your Eyes" and "Mamma" and a rather hypnotic suite. All of the selections but "Anatomy Of A South African Village" were released for the first time on this 1992 CD, one of the better recordings of the early Abdullah Ibrahim. -- Scott Yanow