Ibrahim Khalili Shihab - Chris Schilder - Jazzman

23/1/ 2019

My experience of Ebrahim Khalil Shahib (only part of his story)

Ebrahim Khalil Shihab in the studio Cape Town April 2018. (c) Patrick Lee-Thorp

I first ran into Chris Schilder (as he was known then) in 1975 when he had teamed up with two of his wonderfully talented brothers, Jacky and Philly, for our company to book them for gig at a “homeland” Casino in the north of the Republic. Only once they had got back and I had sat with him and his piano, did I fully realise who I was actually dealing with. I was already something of a fan because I had an LP of his.

This self taught pianist with an amazingly fluid style was also a natural composer who I felt was going to make a mark on South Africa Jazz. As it turned out it was a soul ballad, Give a Little Love, that made him famous, at least in the music business. But the depth of the rest of his work at the time put him on the road to becoming a respected jazzman.

I only know part of the history, but it was a part when Chris was at the centre of the jazz scene in Cape Town in the 1970s. Bass player and leader of the Pacifics, the late Paul Abrahams and fellow founder member Issy Ariefdien, drafted Chris into their group and he became the keyboard player of the fabulous Pacific Express. I was the manager of the group and together we recorded two albums, Black Fire and On Time, with the bulk of the compositions from Chris. The songs were funky but with the likes of Basil Coetzee, Jack Momple and Robbie Jansen in the line-up it had to swing too.

They played live at a club in Manenberg – at the Sherwood Lounge – and that's where you heard their particular brand of music. They played jazz you could dance to. It was a "jazz scene" in the week and a sit-down cabaret spot on Sunday, also under the baton of Mr Schilder.  

After a couple of years he made way for other players to join the Pacific Express and after a spell with Love Supreme, he went back to solo jazz piano playing, perhaps where his heart lies.

Our paths crossed a couple of times again in the last 5 years, mostly over business to do with Pacific Express. At the beginning of last year I decided to record some of the classic Cape Jazz songs and Ebrahim Shihab (his new name) came to mind as both composer and piano player. In April 2018 we were in the studio again after a gap of some 40 years.

Patrick Lee-Thorp,
Mountain Records