Jazz pianist Abdullah Ibrahim dies at 91

Abdullah Ibrahim, the South African pianist and composer regarded as one of the central figures of his country’s jazz, has died at 91 . He died in Germany, his adopted home, after a short illness, his partner Marina Umari said.

Over more than seven decades Ibrahim helped fuse American bebop with South African idioms, recording an early, influential session produced by Duke Ellington and building a body of work that came to stand for resistance during apartheid — Nelson Mandela once likened him to Mozart. His last public performance was at the Cape Town International Jazz Festival in March 2026.

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