In 1962 during a tour of Europe, Duke Ellington heard “The Dollar Brand Trio” playing in Zürich's “Africana Club”. As a result, a recording was set up with Reprise Records; “Duke Ellington presents The Dollar Brand Trio”. The Dollar Brand Trio (with Johnny Gertze on bass and Makaya Ntshoko on drums) subsequently played at many European festivals, as well as on radio and television.
He briefly returned to South Africa in the mid-1970s after his conversion to Islam (and the resultant change of name from Dollar Brand to Abdullah Ibrahim); however, he soon returned to New York in 1976, as he found the political conditions too oppressive. While in South Africa, however, he made a series of recordings with noted Cape Town jazz players (including Basil Coetzee and Robbie Jansen). This included Coetzee's masterpiece, "Mannenberg", acknowledged by most as one of South Africa's greatest musical compositions; the recording soon became an unofficial soundtrack to the anti-apartheid resistance.
Abdullah Ibrahim has written the soundtracks for a number of films, including the award winning Chocolat and, more recently, No Fear, No Die. Since the end of apartheid, he now lives in South Africa and divides his time between his global concert circuit, New York, and South Africa.
Abdullah Ibrahim is a towering figure in South African music, an artist who brings together all its traditions with a deeply felt understanding of American jazz, from the orchestral richness of Duke Ellington's compositions for big band to the groundbreaking innovations of Ornette Coleman and the 1960s avant-garde.
Ibrahim has worked as a solo performer, typically in mesmerising unbroken concerts that echo the unstoppable impetus of the old marabi performers. He also performs regularly with trios and quartets and larger orchestral units. Since his triumphant 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's installation as President. He has also founded a school for South African musicians in Cape Town.
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 a Sentimental Mood
Abdullah Ibrahim Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
I can see the stars come thru my room
While your loving attitude
Is like a flame that lights the gloom
On the wings of ev'ry kiss
Drift a melody so strange and sweet
In this sentimental bliss you make my
Paradise complete
It's all like a dream to call you mine
My heart's lighter thing
Since you made me this night a thing divine
In A Sentimental Mood
I'm within a world so heavenly
For I never dreamt
That you'd be loving sentimental me
In A Sentimental Mood
I can see the stars come thru my room
While your loving attitude
Is like a flame that lights the gloom
On the wings of ev'ry kiss
Drift a melody so strange and sweet
In this sentimental bliss you make my
Paradise complete
Rose pearls seem to fall
It's all like a dream to call you mine
My heart's lighter thing
Since you made me this night a thing divine
In A Sentimental Mood
I'm within a world so heavenly
For I never dreamt
That you'd be loving sentimental me
The song "In a Sentimental Mood" by Abdullah Ibrahim depicts the feeling of being enamored with someone and how it transforms the world around the singer. The singer begins by describing how the stars in the room seem to shine brighter when their lover is around. They go on to say that their lover's attitude is like a flame that lights up the darkness, and every kiss is accompanied by a sweet melody that amplifies their sentimentality. The singer is lost in the euphoria of being with their lover, and the world becomes a peaceful haven of beauty and tranquility.
Line by Line Meaning
I can see stars come through my room
Even in the darkness, I am able to see the beauty in the world.
While your loving attitude is like a flame that lights the gloom
Your love brightens up my life in times of darkness and despair.
On the wings of every kiss drift a melody so strange and sweet
With each and every kiss, there is a sweetness and harmony that is hard to describe.
In this sentimental bliss you make my paradise complete
You are the missing piece that completes my life and brings me to a state of blissfulness.
Rose pearls seem to fall it's all like a dream to call you mine
Having you in my life is like a dream. It feels too good to be true, and yet here you are.
My heart's lighter thing since you made me this night a thing divine
You have heaped blessings upon me and made my life better in every way, so much so that I feel as if I am in a divine state.
I'm within a world so heavenly for I never dreamt that you'd be loving sentimental me
My life is now like heaven because I never thought that someone as wonderful as you could love someone as ordinary as me.
Lyrics © BMG Rights Management, Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC, Tratore, Capitol CMG Publishing, Integrity Music, Songtrust Ave, Cloud9
Written by: Duke Ellington, Irving Mills, Manny Kurtz
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
@naospringer927
One should learn from Abdullah Ibrahim how to take life: he always takes his time, even in the fast parts! What a genius!
@valencia4215
Oh, that made me cry. I've never heard "In the Mood" played this brilliantly. Gosh, what a gift.
@theysvanrooyen976
THE IMMORTAL CHATERISTIC SOUND OF PIANO MUSIC TOO BEAUTIFULL WORDS CANT EXPRESS
@Memale2009
Oui, moi aussi j'adore ce titre depuis longtemps sans avoir écrit mon commentaire favorable jusqu'alors. Mais aujourd'hui, je corrige mon silence en accentuant que ce titre compte parmi mes favoris. Merci!
@StefaniaOriglia31color
grande interpretazione =))
@Cosmogole1971
Piano magique.. So nice!
@valencia4215
Absolutely beautiful.
@lelamivi
Bello muy bello !!!
@bonganimondlana7715
master abdullah
@gpeacho
brilliant!!!