Ibrahim founded the Jazz Epistles in 1959 with saxophonist Kippie Moeketsi, trumpeter Hugh Masekela, trombonist Jonas Gwanga, bassist Johnny Gertze, and drummer Makaya Ntshoko. Together, they recorded the first full-length jazz album by Black South African musicians. That same year, Ibrahim met jazz vocalist Sathima Bea Benjamin, whom he performed with and eventually married. (The couple have two sons: rapper Jean Grae and pianist Tsakwe. Benjamin died in 2013.)
As apartheid became more entrenched, Ibrahim and Benjamin left South Africa…
