Over the decades, he has toured the world extensively, appearing at major venues either as a solo artist or playing with other renowned musicians, including Max Roach, Carlos Ward and Randy Weston, as well as collaborating with classical orchestras in Europe.

[2] With his wife, the jazz singer Sathima Bea Benjamin, Ibrahim is father to two children, including the New York underground rapper Jean Grae.

In February 1963, his wife-to-be, Sathima Bea Benjamin (they married in 1965), convinced Duke Ellington, who was in Zürich, Switzerland, on a European tour, to come to hear Ibrahim perform as "The Dollar Brand Trio" in Zurich's "Africana Club".

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.

[17] While recording Underground, Ibrahim collaborated with Oswietie, a local band of which Robbie Jansen and Basil Coetzee were saxophonists, and who played a large role in creating the album's fusion style.

[18] The composition "Mannenberg" was recorded in June 1974 during one of Ibrahim's visits back to South Africa, in a studio in Cape Town, and was produced by Rashid Vally.

[22] The recordings made with Jansen and Coetzee, including "Mannenberg" (renamed "Capetown Fringe" in its US release), "Black Lightning"; "African Herbs"; and "Soweto Is Where It Is At" – sounds that mirrored and spoke of the defiance in the streets and townships of South Africa – gave impetus to the genre of music known as "Cape Jazz.

[8] On 25 November 1989, he made an extended appearance in the British Channel 4 television discussion series After Dark alongside Zoë Wicomb, Donald Woods, Shula Marks and others.

[35] Reviewing his 2008 concert at London's Barbican Centre – a "monumental" show with the BBC Big Band, featuring vocalists Ian Shaw and Cleveland Watkiss – John Fordham of The Guardian referred to "[Ibrahim's] elder-statesman status as the African Duke Ellington and Thelonious Monk combined (and his role as an educator and political campaigner)".

[36] In 2016, at Emperors Palace, Johannesburg, Ibrahim and Hugh Masekela performed together for the first time in 60 years, reuniting the Jazz Epistles in commemoration of the 40th anniversary of the historic 16 June 1976 youth demonstrations.

[37][38][39] Reviewing Ibrahim's July 2023 appearance with bassist Noah Jackson and flautist Cleave Guyton at the Barbican Centre, Kevin Le Gendre wrote: "Ibrahim's enduring love of the founding fathers of modern jazz is made clear from the outset as the trio starts with rhapsodic versions of two timeless anthems, Ellington's 'In A Sentimental Mood' and Coltrane's 'Giant Steps', while later on we are treated to a spirited take on Monk's 'Skippy'.

Awarded in recognition of lifetime achievement, the honor is bestowed on individuals who have made significant contributions to the art form, the other 2019 recipients being Bob Dorough, Maria Schneider, and Stanley Crouch.