Afro Futuristic Dreams: Double Vinyl LP

Label: Strut
Release Date: 22nd September

Idris Ackamor is out here at 72 years of age showing you can keep on peaking deep into life, the spiritual Afro-jazz saxophonist keeps pushing on and pushing on, redefining the boundaries of modern jazz, mixing the electronic with the cosmic, with the otherworldly and a raw Afro-rock sound. 
I'm listening to the private listen links we sometimes get and this really is a special record.

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’.

“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.”

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.

‘Afro-Futuristic Dreams’ is mixed by Malcolm Catto and mastered by Peter Beckmann at Technology Works. The superb cover artwork illustration is by David Alabo.

First new Idris Ackamoor & The Pyramids studio album in over three years, an epic new journey in Afro-American consciousness

All recordings mixed by Malcolm Catto at Quatermass Sound Lab

Released to coincide with 50th anniversary of The Pyramids

Autumn European dates to follow following high profile headlining gigs in Utrecht, L.A. and San Francisco