The new album announcement comes on the heels of the Octogenarian’s birthday concerts at Hirzinger Hall, which took place on 14th and 15th October 2023. The concerts, which take place in the East of Germany, are by now a tradition. The grand hall is famous for its incredible acoustics, and a solo piano performance by the NEA jazz master one of its annual highlights. It was also the location in which his critically acclaimed album ‘Solotude’ was recorded during in lockdown.

Taken from his recent sold-out headline date at London’s Barbican Centre, the new album ‘3’ follows suit and is spread across two performances – the first is recorded without an audience recorded ahead of the concert straight to analogue on a 1’ Scully tape machine, which had previously been used by Elvis at the famous Memphis-based Sun Studios. The second recording is taken from the evening’s performance itself with Ibrahim performing in a unique trio which includes Cleave Guyton (flute, piccolo, saxophone) who has performed alongside the likes of Aretha Franklin, Dizzy Gillespie, and Joe Henderson, as well as lauded bassist and cellist Noah Jackson, both of which are members of Ekaya and featured on Ibrahim’s top 3 Billboard Jazz album ‘The Balance’.

The recordings feature a number of special new tracks and moving arrangements influenced by the music of Ibrahim’s upbringing (gospel and jive, American jazz and classical music, sacred and secular), and arrangements of tracks by his friends and heroes such as Duke Ellington and John Coltrane, all interwoven by his fluidic and ebullient playing style. The recording also features spellbinding vocal performances from Ibrahim creating a powerful, pin-drop moment with heartbreaking songs about the pain of slavery sung in both an indigenous language and English. The whole thing is accentuated by the lack of percussion which highlights both the more poignant moments as well as the more energetic moments.