From the pain of apartheid to luscious beauty: 10 of the best recordings by jazz legend Abdullah Ibrahim (opens in new tab)

The pianist and bandleader, who has died aged 91, had an inimitable style where bright, guileless melody met a fearless improvisational impulse (from Jazz Epistle Verse 1, 1960)Born Adolph Johannes Brand in Cape Town in 1934, Abdullah Ibrahim spent his six-decade career defining the heartfelt sound of South African jazz. Making his professional debut as a pianist at 15 under the name Dollar Brand, it was his co-founding of the group the Jazz Epistles in 1959 that laid the groundwork for his j...