Msunduza comes from the 1973 duo recording album, “Good News from Africa” alongside bassist Johnny Dyani. It was re- released on Enja Records in 2016 under the band name, Dollar Brand Duo. Ibrahim played piano, vocals and flute, while Dyani was on bass, vocals and bells.
Abdullah Ibrahim (born Adolph Johannes Brand in October 1934 and formerly known as Dollar Brand) is a South African pianist and composer. His music reflects many of the musical influences of his childhood in the multicultural port areas of Cape Town, ranging from traditional African songs to the gospel of the AME Church and Ragas, to more modern jazz and other Western styles. Ibrahim is considered the leading figure in the subgenre of Cape jazz. Within jazz, his music particularly reflects the influence of Thelonious Monk, Fats Waller and Duke Ellington. He is known especially for Mannenberg, a jazz piece that became a notable anti-apartheid anthem. During the apartheid era in the 1960s, Ibrahim moved to New York City and, apart from a brief return to South Africa in the 1970s, remained in exile. Over the decades he has toured the world extensively, appearing at major venues either as a solo artist or playing with other renowned musicians, including Max Roach, Carlos Ward and Randy Weston, as well as collaborating with classical orchestras in Europe. With his wife, the jazz singer Sathima Bea Benjamin, he is father to the New York underground rapper Jean Grae, as well as to a son, Tsakwe. In July 2018, the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) announced Abdullah Ibrahim as a recipient of the NEA Jazz Masters Fellowships, to be celebrated in a concert in April 2019 at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, DC. Awarded in recognition of lifetime achievement, the honour is bestowed on individuals who have made significant contributions to the art form. Since his return to South Africa in the early 1990s, he has been feted with symphony orchestra performances, one of which was in honour of Nelson Mandela's1994 inauguration as president. Mandela referred to him as "our Mozart”.
In 2016, his original 1973 duo recording album, “Good News from Africa” with bassist Johnny Dyani, was re- released on Enja Records under the band name, Dollar Brand Duo. Ibrahim played piano, vocals and flute, while Dyani was on bass, vocals and bells. The track Msunduza comes from that same album. The township of Msunduza is situated near to Mbanbane in Swaziland.
