Chills guaranteed! Abdullah Ibrahim to grace the CTIJF 2026 stage for historic performance

Few musicians have shaped the sound and soul of South African jazz quite like Abdullah Ibrahim. 

This March, the 91-year-old pianist and composer will return to the stage at the Cape Town International Jazz Festival (CTIJF), performing on March 27 to 28, as part of the festival’s highly anticipated 2026 edition.

For audiences, his appearance is a rare opportunity to witness one of the great living architects of modern jazz, an artist whose music has travelled across continents while remaining deeply rooted in the rhythms and stories of home.

The Mother City’s very own Ibrahim was born in District Six on October 9, 1934

Over six decades, he would transform those early influences into a musical language that blends Cape jazz traditions, gospel undertones, African musical idioms and the improvisational spirit of global jazz.

In 1958, he formed the Dollar Brand Trio and, a year later, co-founded The Jazz Epistles alongside fellow luminaries including Hugh Masekela, Kippie Moeketsi and Jonas Gwangwa. Their recording would become the first jazz album by South African musicians.

That same year also marked the beginning of Ibrahim’s lifelong partnership with vocalist Sathima Bea Benjamin, whose introduction would later change the course of his international career.

Following the Sharpeville Massacre and the intensifying repression of the apartheid era, Ibrahim went into exile. While living in Zurich, Benjamin introduced him to the legendary Duke Ellington, and it was this meeting that opened the door to international recordings and performances across Europe and the United States.

The renowned musician then went on to build a global reputation as one of the world’s most distinctive pianists and composers, and his music has earned him worldwide acclaim for the way in which it carries a quiet intensity which is meditative, spiritual and emotionally resonant.

One of his most powerful projects was “Mannenberg (Is Where It’s Happening”), a piece that became an enduring anthem of resistance and hope during the anti-apartheid struggle.

When Nelson Mandela was released from prison in 1990, Ibrahim returned to South Africa after decades in exile. Four years later, he performed at Mandela’s presidential inauguration in a moment which was widely seen as both a personal and national homecoming.

Now, as the CTIJF prepares for its 23rd edition, Ibrahim’s return to the stage in Cape Town carries its own quiet symbolism.

His performance on the Rosies stage is expected to be one of the most anticipated moments of the festival, where it is set to be a meeting of generations, histories and sounds.

The 2026 festival continues its legacy of bringing together leading local and international artists for a weekend widely regarded as one of the continent’s premier live music gatherings.

Ibrahim will be joined by Grammy-winning Jacob Collier, the legendary Yellowjackets and UK saxophonist Jasmine Myra.

The local acts who will also perform include Sipho “Hotstix” Mabuse, pianist Nduduzo Makhathini, Rorisang Sechele and Jazzwrld & Thukuthela.

*Tickets are available via Ticketmaster, with Buy Now Pay Later options through Loot.