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Anyone who caught the concert at London’s Barbican last year by veteran South African jazz pianist Abdullah Ibrahim will know that at 89, he is still playing with the same exquisite lyricism and masterful poise that he displayed when he first emerged under the name Dollar Brand playing alongside Hugh Masekela in The Jazz Epistles more than 60 years ago. Like Buena Vista Social Club’s late octogenarian pianist Rubén González, physical frailty may have meant he needed help onto the stage but once seated at the piano, his fingers were as dextrous as ever. Fortunately for those who weren’t there, the concert was recorded. Even better news is that before he took the stage he also recorded a set without an audience straight to an analogue on a 1” Scully tape machine. Accompanied by the flute and sax of Cleave Guyton and Noah Jackson on bass and cello, the playing on both sets is masterful, the arrangements taking in every aspect of Abdullah Ibrahim’s musical history from township jive to American jazz via classical music while the material ranges from tunes by Ellington and Coltrane to his own meditative compositions such as the wondrous ‘Water from an Ancient Well’.