When time and space and change converge, we find place. We arrive in Place when we resolve things. Place is peace of mind and understanding. Place is knowledge of self. Place is resolution. -Abdullah Ibrahim
Dear Friends,
This week’s Next to Silence is a tribute to Abdullah Ibrahim, one of the great voices in jazz. His music carried the sound of South Africa, blending jazz, African traditions, spirituality, and quiet reflection into something unmistakably his own. Abdullah Ibrahim. Who early in career called himself Dollar Brand, died on June 15, 2026, after a short illness at the age of 91, leaving behind a body of work that continues to inspire musicians and listeners around the world. For the next 90 minutes, we’ll spend some time with that remarkable music and remember an artist whose music always invited us to listen a little more deeply.
This show barely scratches the surface of this wonderful body of work, and will be presented in chronological order.
One good thing about music, when it hits you, you feel no pain. — Bob Marley
For 28 days I went in for radiation treatment, and each day I was allowed to choose the music that played while I was on the table. It was a small choice in a process where most things had already been decided for me. I didn’t choose these pieces because they were comforting or inspirational, although some were. I chose music I wanted to be with for those few minutes—music that carried memories, demanded attention, brought me joy, or simply sounded right in that strange room with that machine moving around me. This is the music I brought with me.
But I wasn’t alone with the music. Every day there were the wonderful radiation technicians who greeted me, got me positioned, ran the machinery, and somehow made a very strange thing begin to feel almost ordinary. I came to think of them as friends and actually looked forward to seeing them. There was humor, smiles, conversation, and there was a warmth that had nothing to do with the technology surrounding us. I can’t remember another time when I felt so well cared for by people I had only just met. Of all the things they said to me, the one I may remember longest is, “Would you like a warm blanket?” Such a small kindness, but it came to stand for the whole experience: someone was paying attention to whether I was comfortable.
So I am posting these pieces as an example of what we bring with us when we have to go through something we would never have chosen. I brought music, but I also brought my life contained in songs I had listened to for decades, all those ordinary days that had somehow accumulated into a life. And then something unexpected happened: the people caring for me became part of what I brought into that room. Their kindness and good humor became part of the soundtrack.
Cancer was now part of my life, but it wasn’t the whole story. And I don’t know if I’ll ever again have the experience of such wonderful women cheerfully telling me to pull down my pants.
For more than seventy years, the legendary jazz saxophonist Sonny Rollins followed his own path—restlessly searching, listening, practicing, and creating some of the most powerful and joyful music ever recorded. From hard bop to calypso, from intimate ballads to fearless improvisations, his music was always alive, always searching.
This program pays tribute to Sonny Rollins who passed away at his home in Woodstock, New York on May 25, 2026, at the age of 95.
Playlist for the week of June 13, 2026:
Oleo — Miles Davis
The Way You Look Tonight — Thelonious Monk, Sonny Rollins
The Concert for Bangladesh was a groundbreaking benefit concert held on August 1, 1971, at Madison Square Garden. Organized by George Harrison and Ravi Shankar, it was created to raise money and international awareness for the humanitarian crisis caused by war, famine, and millions of refugees fleeing what was then East Pakistan during the struggle that led to the creation of Bangladesh. The concerts featured an extraordinary lineup, including Bob Dylan, Ringo Starr, Eric Clapton, Billy Preston, and Leon Russell. Widely regarded as the first major rock charity concert, it established the model for later benefit events such as Live Aid and demonstrated the power of popular music as a force for humanitarian action.
Today on Next To Silence, I’d like to do something a little different and share The Concert for Bangladesh almost in its entirety, with judicious edits to fit in the show’s 90 minute time slot.
NOTICE:
The schedule for NEXT TO SILENCE has changed. It streams live at 1700AM and on the web at peaksislandradio.com on
This show celebrates Pride Month with Queer Africa. I’ll be playing courageous artists who have come out, often at great personal risk, as they speak out against The Persecution of LGBTQ+ Individuals in Africa.
My intention is to bring an awareness of of the music from these creative artists in Africa’s LGBTQ+ community. There were limitations in what I’m able to play on the radio because many of the tunes from these artists are quite graphic with uncompromising language.
In many African countries, same-sex relationships remain criminalized, often under laws inherited from colonial powers. In some places, governments have intensified anti-LGBTQ rhetoric in recent years.
Some examples include:
Uganda, which enacted one of the world’s harshest anti-LGBTQ laws in 2023.
Nigeria, where same-sex relationships are criminalized and public advocacy can be restricted.
Ghana, where anti-LGBTQ legislation has been politically contentious.
Senegal and Tanzania, where public attitudes tend to be strongly conservative.
Political leaders sometimes frame LGBTQ rights as a foreign or Western imposition, despite historical evidence that diverse sexualities and gender expressions existed in many African societies long before European colonization.
The courage of LGBTQ recording artists in many African countries goes beyond simply being “out.” For some, making music itself becomes an act of resistance, visibility, and personal risk.
They often face real consequences
Depending on the country, queer artists may encounter:
Threats and harassment, both online and in person.
Rejection by family, religious communities, or their home communities.
Difficulty finding venues, radio play, or record labels.
Censorship or cancellation of performances.
Risk of arrest or legal scrutiny in countries with anti-LGBTQ laws.
Pressure to remain closeted in order to have a successful career.
For these artists, releasing a song about same-sex love or appearing openly queer can be a profoundly courageous act.
To my LGBTQ+ listeners, and to everyone who has ever felt unseen, misunderstood, or outside the expected story, I hope this music has offered not just great songs, but a sense of fellowship. Your experiences, your stories, and your ways of loving and being in the world have always been part of the human story, and they continue to enrich it.
The show is “This is PeaksFest 2026 on Peaks Island Radio. Not the actual festival schedule, but a musical festival of our own. I’ve chosen some of my favorite songs from five former themed shows, and think that the next 90 minutes of music captures the creative, eclectic, artistic, close-knit, community-minded and absolutely quirky island on Casco Bay.
Boho Dreams of Space and Time 