Afro Futuristic Dreams
is the fourth album from
Idris Ackamoor and the Pyramids
since signing to
Strut
in 2012. Recorded between London and San Francisco with producer
Malcolm Catto
(he also helmed 2020's
Shaman!
), it features many of the same players in an expanded lineup.
Ackamoor
's company cuts across inspirations from Afrobeat, avant and spiritual jazz, psychedelic blues, mutant funk, theater, spoken word, and more in a soulfully idiosyncratic sound of their own creation. In addition to his core band -- electric guitarist
Bobby Cobb
, flutist
Margaux Simmons
, bassist
Ruben Ramos Medina
, and violinist/vocalist
Sandra Poindexter
-- are trumpeter
Aaron Atkinson
, trombonist
Greg Stephens
, drummers
Ernesto Marichales
and
George Hearst
, keyboardist
Ben Maddox
, percussionist
Bradie Speller
, a string quartet, and a small vocal chorus. In addition to saxophones,
sings (think
Leon Thomas
), plays organ, piano, keytar, and percussion instruments. The leader makes glorious use of this larger ensemble.
offers ten tracks that sprawl across 76 minutes, without performance or production excesses.
The title track is introduced by the chorus chanting in four-part harmony, with hypnotic drums and percussion and
Cobb
's mean, circular blues guitar vamp weaving a spell. Meanwhile, alto sax and muted brass voice a second chorus line before melding modal and North African folk themes with squiggly electronic noise, funky kit breaks, and swampy, psychedelic blues. The 13-minute "Thank You God" evokes the inspiration of
John
Alice Coltrane
Pharoah Sanders
. Sparse, spacy, improv from cello, harp, piano, electronics, and other instruments eventually emerge with a mournful collective vamp. The chorus chants the names of God in gospelized response with alto sax, before
Poindexter
claims the lead vocal. Guitars, saxophones, strings, and percussion join the chorus in a transcendent fusion of spiritual jazz and African highlife, as instrumentalists trade fours with the singers. "Police Dem" joins bubbling Afrobeat to American funk and steamy dub.
noisily guide the singers, who foist indictments of racism, brutality, and inhumanity on law enforcement in an approach that recalls the raw, confrontational style of
Fela and Africa '70
. "Truth to Power" joins pulsing, dissonant strings with layered percussion and a circular bassline;
engage in rowdy call-and-response improv that travels to the very edge or harmonic logic before
's violin joins the urgent conversation to draw them back inside. "Re-Memory" offers
's approach to 21st century spiritual soul. Strings and horns create an exotic backdrop, and percussion, bass, and reverbed guitar erect a ledge for the voices who croon homage to those who came before. Instrumental "Garland Rose" weds modal jazz to processional, organic percussion, bass, and flute. "Nice It Up" employs kalimbas and talking drums, pan flutes, lively strings, and saxophones to create an original Afro Futurist folk song before a reprise of "Thank You God" carries the set out.
sums up
's career and leaps forward, exploring myriad traditions, styles, and harmonic and rhythmic combinations that further musical conversations to an as-yet-unseen creative horizon. ~ Thom Jurek