June 15, 2026
(FILES) South African pianist and composer Abdullah Ibrahim performs on stage at the Cape Town International Jazz Festival in Cape Town, on March 27, 2026. World-renowned South African jazz pianist and composer Abdullah Ibrahim has died Monday at the age of 91 in Germany, his family announced in a statement. Born in 1934, Ibrahim began his professional career at 15 before being discovered in 1963 in a Zurich club by American jazz pianist Duke Ellington. In 1965, Ibrahim and his wife moved to New York, where he fronted the Duke Ellington Orchestra on several occasions. The tall, lanky pianist, who recorded more than 70 albums “passed away peacefully, surrounded by his family in Germany, after a short illness,” the family said. (Photo by GIANLUIGI GUERCIA / AFP)
Pianist and composer Abdullah Ibrahim, who died Monday aged 91, escaped apartheid-era South Africa to be discovered by jazz great Duke Ellington, becoming highly influential with a distinct musical style and touring the world into his nineties.
Ibrahim spent many years away from South Africa — first fleeing in 1962, the year anti-apartheid leader Nelson Mandela was jailed — but always maintained a strong connection with his homeland, especially through his music.
