SFJAZZ presents Abdullah Ibrahim & Ekaya
2016-05-01
Miner Auditorium
SFJAZZ Center, 205 Franklin St, San Francisco, CA
4:00 PM, Sunday, May 1, 2016

Back to the previous event! ☸ Up to the 2016 yearbox! ☸ Up to the 2016 event list! ☸ On to the next event!

[4:07 PM; lights down, announcements from Randall Kline; Abdullah enters and begins the show alone]

1. [4:12 PM] ?
2. [4:21 PM] ?
3. [4:24 PM] ?
4. [4:30 PM] ?
5. [4:34 PM] ?
   [add cello, flute]
6. [4:37 PM] ?
   [add rest of band]
7. [4:44 PM] ?
8. [4:50 PM] ?
9. [4:56 PM] ?
10. [5:00 PM] ?
11. [5:04 PM] ?
    [drop all but trio]
12. [5:10 PM] ?
    [drop all but Abdullah]
13. [5:13 PM] _?_
    [set ends 5:16 PM]

[5:44 PM lights down, starts off solo again]

1. [5:44 PM] ?
2. [5:50 PM] ?
3. [5:52 PM] ?
4. [5:53 PM] ?
   [add cello, flute]
5. [5:55 PM] ?
   [add rest of band]
6. [5:59 PM] ?
7. [6:03 PM] ?
8. [6:11 PM] ?
9. [6:16 PM] ?
   [set ends 6:25 PM; long stretch of bows and applause, then all off for a blink of an eye]
    
   Encore (trio)
10. [6:27 PM] _?_
    [show ends 6:31 PM; long stretch of bows and applause, then all off]

Abdullah Ibrahim & Ekaya

• Belden Bullock: contrabass, cello;
• George Gray: drums;
• Cleave Guyton: flute, clarinet, piccolo, alto saxophone;
• Abdullah Ibrahim: piano;
• Keith Loftis: tenor saxophone;
• Jason Marshall: baritone saxophone;
• Andrae Murchison: trombone, flugelhorn.

The show started very quiet and wistfully, with Abdullah playing the piano alone onstage, gradually transitioning through a number of different tunes. I recognized a few, but like most jazz tunes, without a reference disc, summoning the title from memory is darn near impossible! After 20 min or so, he was joined for one (or two?) tunes by cello and flute; following that, the whole band entered and played another half dozen tunes, before reversing the additions and ending with solo piano. Neat!

The second set followed a very similar performance arc, and although the tunes were certainly different, the crowd received them as enthusiastically as before. Wish I'd had the time to hear some of the other sets from this weekend – I'd like to know how much things varied across the nights.

Back to the previous event! ☸ Up to the 2016 yearbox! ☸ Up to the 2016 event list! ☸ On to the next event!