Last month saw the release of a new studio album from West Coast jazz mavericks, The Pyramids, led by their inspirational bandleader and alto-saxophonist, Idris Ackamoor. ‘We Be All Africans‘ is released on Strut, the title track for which is our Song of the Day.
The band was founded in Paris way back in 1972 and they released three independent albums before disbanding in 1977 after a final show at UC Berkeley Jazz Festival. Whilst active they became renowned for their ‘striking live shows, mixing percussive, spiritual and space-age jazz with performance, theatre, and dance’ as you can see on this 1975 TV show:
It was thanks to a growing demand from vinyl collectors and jazz fans that they reunited thirty years later with a fresh lineup including percussionist Kenneth Nash. A Lifetime Achievement Award for Idris was awarded by DJ Gilles Peterson at his Worldwide Awards which served to widen their fanbase.
This new release is set to spread the word still further.
‘We Be All Africans’ is a message of survival. A message of renewal. A message that we are all brothers and sisters. We are all one family, the human family and we need one another in order to survive on this planet that we all share.
– Idris Ackamoor
Order it via Bandcamp here: idrisackamoor.bandcamp.com