South African jazz pianist Abdullah Ibrahim dies at 91

Abdullah Ibrahim, the revered South African jazz pianist and composer whose music became an anthem of resistance against apartheid, died on Monday, June 15, 2026. He was 91. His family confirmed he passed away peacefully, surrounded by family in Germany following a short illness.

Born Adolph Johannes Brand in Cape Town’s District Six on October 9, 1934, Ibrahim began piano lessons at age seven, influenced by the gospel music of his mother and grandmother. He made his professional debut at 15 and, by 1959, was a founding member of the groundbreaking group The Jazz Epistles, which included trumpeter Hugh Masekela. The ensemble’s 1960 album, “Jazz Epistle Verse One,” was the first full-length jazz recording by a Black South African band.

Facing increasing government crackdowns on mixed-race artistic expression, Ibrahim left South Africa in 1962. While performing in Zurich the following year, he was discovered by American jazz legend Duke Ellington, who produced his early recordings and became a mentor. Ibrahim and his wife, jazz singer Sathima Bea Benjamin, moved to New York in 1965, where he occasionally fronted the Duke Ellington Orchestra and studied at the Juilliard School.