Ibrahim was born in Cape Town on 9 October 1934 , and was baptized Adolph Johannes Brand . He attended Trafalgar High School in Cape Town 's District Six , and began piano lessons at the age of seven , making his professional debut at 15 . He is of mixed-race heritage , making him a Coloured person according to the South African government . His mother played piano in a church , the musical style of which would remain an influence ; in addition , he learned to play several genres of music during his youth in Cape Town , including '' marabi '' , '' mbaqanga '' , and American jazz . He became well known in jazz circles in Cape Town and Johannesburg . In 1959 and 1960 , Ibrahim played with the Jazz Epistles group in Sophiatown , alongside saxophonist Kippie Moeketsi , trumpeter Hugh Masekela , trombonist Jonas Gwangwa ( who were all in the orchestra of the musical '' King Kong '' that opened in Johannesburg in February 1959 ) , bassist Johnny Gertze and drummer Makaya Ntshoko ; in January 1960 , the six musicians went into the Gallo studio and recorded the first full-length jazz LP by Black South African musicians , '' Jazz Epistle Verse One '' , with 500 copies being produced . Although the group avoided explicitly political activity , the apartheid government was suspicious of it and other jazz groups , and targeted them heavily during the increase in state repression following the Sharpeville massacre , and eventually , the Jazz Epistles broke up
Sharpeville massacre
Sharpeville massacre
Abdullah Ibrahim