Idris Ackamoor Ankhestra, Rhodessa Jones, Danny Glover: Artistic Being review – powerful live set from the Afrofuturist and friends
Idris Ackamoor was a champion of Afrofuturism long before that term was coined; his 70s band the Pyramids combined funk and avant-garde jazz with Egyptian flavours and a keen awareness of Afro-American history. (Sun Ra is an obvious fellow traveller.) Since his re-emergence a decade back, Ackamoor has deliveredfour impressive albums for the Strut label, which is marking National Record Store Day with this recording of a 2024 San Francisco concert. It's a powerful, uncompromising work, combining an expanded big band, the Ankhestra, with spoken-word outings by Hollywood actor Danny Glover alongside fellow activist Rhodessa Jones.
Opener Afro Futuristic Dreams is a call to arms, its massed chants shapeshifting into driving soul and a rich instrumental mix led by violin and flute. The group draw on hard bop and serpentine melodies on Tembeka and the jauntier Thank You God. The centrepiece is Glover's Grandma Cole Story, which turns the harrowing ordeals of a 10-year-old African girl aboard a slave ship into a a triumph of spirit via a blaze of Blakean imagery. China Lane Suite charts a cross-racial love affair, while In God's Country is Glover's tribute to his mother. Ackamoor's Prayer for Changing Times is self-explanatory, both demanding and joyous.
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