Review: Idris Ackamoor & The Pyramids’ ‘Shaman!’

In the early 1990s, Allan Wilson and Rebecca Cann reached a scientific breakthrough in their testing of mitochondrial DNA. Their findings further supported the replacement hypothesis, a theory that proposes a single origin of man in a taxonomic sense. Its essential holding is that every human being descended from a small band of homo sapiens living in the sub-Saharan continent. Gradually, these groups spread further outward, ultimately settling most of the globe. While none of its members are paleoanthropologists by profession, one senses a similar thought is imbued in Idris Ackamoor & The Pyramid’s Shaman! (Strut Records, 2020). 

In many ways, the San Francisco-based saxophonist’s works have long espoused this perspective. In 1972, Ackamoor built upon lessons learned from his mentor, the great Cecil Taylor, to establish The Pyramids alongside flautist Dr. Margaux Simmons and electric bassist Kimathi Asante. After touring both Europe and Africa, they established residence in Ghana. Along the way, they picked up pieces of musical knowledge – and instruments – from every place they visited. Then found a way to fuse them into a singular approach to sound that would work towards removing the perception of any divide between pan-Africanism, spiritual jazz, R&B, funk, and the avant-garde. Self-releases, Lalibela (1973),  King Of Kings (1974), and Birth / Speed / Merging (1976) explored the concept, increasingly more realized than the last. All three had very limited runs, being sold only at concerts out of the trunks of their cars. Despite the scarcity of finding their output, upon the ensemble’s disbanding in 1977, many record collectors began hunting them down. By 2010, the collective reformed and issued their first studio album in over two decades. The passage of time served to allow its musicians – not precisely the same lineup as prior incarnations as it maintains an open-door policy – to further hone their skills and their approach. More followed, including the aptly titled We Be All Africans (Strut Records, 2016). Shaman! builds upon this approach while burning its own path in which the different components are not always so easily identifiable. 

The title track begins with a contemplative guitar solo joined by gentle percussiveness and hushed background vocals before spoken-word and subdued flute join in. Mysterious and yet approachable. After around two and a half minutes, the tempo picks up considerably. Upon the first reproach, may think it emerged solely from Nigeria’s great export of Afrobeat. But there is more than meets the eye. Simmons flitters like a bird in frantic flight before horns join the driving rhythm. With the bandleader’s solo, he slides between the music of Kuti and Allen and the spiritualism of Pharoah Sanders and late John Coltrane. It even seemingly hints at the soulfulness of vocalist Minnie Ripperton. Behind it all, Sandra Poindexter’s violin furtively paves its own way. By her solo, she evinces the aesthetics of American folk music. The latter is particularly fascinating. Although seldom explored, one of the style’s most preeminent instruments is the banjo, itself originally from West Africa. And so, a listener is left with the lingering question – just how much of seemingly disparate music really originates, at least in part, from the continent?

It is hardly the only piece to raise these thoughts. On “Eternity,” Ackamoor’s growls suggest 50s rock-and-roll saxophone and ties it to sounds from the same instrument during the emergence of the avant-garde a decade later. This is done within the context of, somehow, both a slow R&B and empowered overtly African-influenced rhythms. Poindexter delivers new insight by drawing from aural characteristics of violinists like Stéphane Grappelli, leading one to wonder how many sonic facets of Gypsy jazz, often associated with France, can be tied back to Africa. 

Particularly on “Virgin,” electronic tones, provided by a keytar, and psychedelic concepts are brought into consideration.“The Last Slave Ship,” a moving piece about one of humanity’s worst institutions sounds like a melding of the current London jazz scene, the Sun Ra Arkestra, progressive rock, and highlife. “Dogon Mysteries” shows how the latter links to southern rock and the blues.

This implicit emphasis on the origins and development of artistic forms my suggest that Shaman! is primarily looking towards the past. In reality, it stays current by focusing on issues that transcend time. Among them, love, thoughts on life and eternity, definitions of masculinity, and the significance of mentors. 

Shaman! finds success in the space between matters that are deeply personal and universal. It creates no pretense that everyone is identical yet still brings out commonalities. In that way, we all, just like our music, emerge from a single source, a shared homeland. 

Idris Ackamoor & The Pyramid’s Shaman! is now available on Strut Records.

Tracklist: 1. Shaman!, 2. Tango of Love, 3. Eternity, 4. When Will I See You Again?, 5. Salvation, 6. Theme for Cecil, 7. Virgin, 8. The Last Slave Ship, 9. Dogon Mysteries.

Personnel: Idris Ackamoor (alto saxophone, tenor saxophone, vocals, keytar), Dr. Margaux Simmons (flutes, vocals), Sandra Poindexter (violins, vocals), Bobby Cobb (guitar, effects, vocals, mbira), Ruben Ramon Ramos (acoustic bass, electric bass), Gioele Pagliaccia (drums), Jack Yglesias (congas, percussion).