Afro Futuristic Dreams (Strut)
Idris Ackamoor & The Pyramids
Released September 22, 2023
DownBeat Four-and-a-Half-Star Review
AllMusic Favorite Jazz Albums 2023
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About:
Idris Ackamoor & The Pyramids are back with their first major new studio album in over 3 years, an epic, sprawling new work exploring the future, the past and the urgent reality of the present, ‘Afro Futuristic Dreams’.
Recorded between San Francisco and London and brought together by the genius of Malcolm Catto at his analogue Quatermass Studio, the new recording represents another bold step in Ackamoor’s ever-evolving journey in jazz, adding full, intricate scores including string sections and choral elements to the Pyramids’ trademark
spiritual Afro-jazz sound. Driven by the core Pyramids members Ackamoor (sax, keytar, organ), Margaux Simmons (flute), Sandra Poindexter (violin) and Bobby Cobb (guitar), tracks range from hard-hitting commentaries about police brutality (‘Police Dem’) to celebrations of the ancestors and departed loved ones (‘Requiem For The Ancestors’, ‘Re-Memory’) and hazy cosmic journeys, including the album’s title track and the sparkling, experimental closer, ‘Nice It Up’.
The recording is the Pyramids’ first new release since the acclaimed ‘Shaman!’ in 2020 and rides a wave of interest in the band around their 50th Anniversary this year.
Alongside a box set reissue on Strut bringing together their rare early ‘70s albums for the first time, the band have headlined Le Guess Who festival in Utrecht with an accompanying exhibition of their history and have played major concerts at Presidio Theatre in L.A. and Zebulon in San Francisco. They will be playing a full European tour in Autumn 2023.
“This album has been many years in the making,” explains Ackamoor. “Back in late 2020, I set out to compose the first in a series of scores to take The Pyramids sound into brave new territory. All of the tracks involve issues that the core band is passionate about and the recording was a complex process involving many musicians and vocalists across two different time zones.”
Track Listing:
1. Afro Futuristic Dreams (Idris Ackamoor / Bruce Baker) 05:29
2. Thank You God (Idris Ackamoor / Bruce Baker) 13:19
3. Police Dem (Idris Ackamoor / Bruce Baker) 09:01
4. First Peoples (Margaux Simmons) 06:54
5. Truth to Power (Idris Ackamoor / Bruce Baker) 07:21
6. Re: Memory (Idris Ackamoor / Bruce Baker) 05:33
7. Garland Rose (Idris Ackamoor / Bruce Baker) 06:45
8. Requiem for the Ancestors (Idris Ackamoor / Bruce Baker) 06:35
9. Nice It Up (Idris Ackamoor / Bruce Baker) 07:34
Personnel:
Idris Ackamoor: alto saxophone, tenor saxophone, piano, Hammond organ, didgeridoo, thunder sticks, pan flutes, rain sticks, bells, bass mbira, tenor mbira, talking drum, cymbal tree, vocals
Margaux Simmons: flute, Native American flute, poetry, vocals
Bobby Cobb: guitar, vocals
Daria Nile, Queen Califia: vocals
Sandra Poindexter: violin, vocals
Vincent Tolliver: viola
Laura Boytz: cello
Aaron Priskorn: trumpet
Greg Stephens: trombone
Heshima Mark Williams: acoustic bass
Ruben Ramos Medina: electric bass
George Hearst: drums
Bradie Speller: handsonic, congas, percussion
Ernesto Marichales: drums, congas, percussion
John Notaro: drums (4)
Ben Maddox: keyboard effects (4)
Recorded February to April 2022 by:
Malcom Catto at Quatermass Sound Lab, London
Frank Swart at Funkwrench Music Studios, San Francisco
Ben Maddox at Ben Maddox Recording Studios, Vermont
Mixed by Malcom Catto
Mastered by Peter Beckmann
Front Cover: David Alabo
Graphic Design: Matt Thorne
Producer: Idris Ackamoor, Malcom Catto
Co-producer: Frank Swart
Executive-Producer: Malcom Catto
Review:
A sprawling journey, decades in the making, Afro Futuristic Dreams further expands the musical consciousness that Idris Ackamoor & The Pyramids have been cultivating since the 1970s. Bandleader and saxophonist Ackamoor’s compositions and arrangements call upon a wide range of African diasporic musical traditions, including spiritual jazz, Afrobeat, reggae and psychedelic rock, while also bringing a propulsive energy that is uniquely theirs. Afro Futuristic Dreams tackles the isolation, violence and turmoil we’ve been living through with renewed hope and effervescent joy. While previous albums have been more pointed in their political and social commentary, Afro Futuristic Dreams is more focused on how we move forward from here. “Thank You God” majestically, jubilantly calls for peace and unity. “Police Dem” channels Fela Kuti’s political activism to tackle police brutality and institutional racism. The Pyramids chant, “Now we have to stand tall, face what all the world saw,” while intersecting Afrobeat rhythms back Ackamoor’s clarion lines.
Afro Futuristic Dreams is resistance music for our times, standing on the shoulders of ancestral wisdom to evoke joyful revelry and collective solidarity.
Ivana Ng (DownBeat)
