Idris Ackamoor and The Pyramids Premiere "Artistic Being"

Start: Saturday, April 19, 2025 8:00PM
End: Saturday, April 19, 2025 10:00PM

San Francisco's own legendary Jazz/World music ensemble Idris Ackamoor and The Pyramids will perform in support of the WORLD PREMIERE of the 2025 double vinyl album release, Artistic Being (Strut Records 2025). The album release features original material created by Idris Ackamoor for the 50th anniversary reunion of Afrofuturist jazz pioneers The Pyramids and guest artists Rhodessa Jones and Danny Glover that received its sold-out world premiere last year at The Lab in San Francisco. An April 19 record release performance celebrating the new recording will be given at The Lab April 19, at 8 pm. Tickets, priced $25-$60 may be purchased at https://link.dice.fm/v8c7bf6b1e6a, and The Lab is located at 2948 16th Street in San Francisco.

The one-night-only event reunites four members of the original Pyramids including co-founders Idris Ackamoor, band leader and saxophonist; Dr. Margaux Simmons, flute; Bradie Speller, congas/percussions and Heshima Mark Williams, bass. Longtime members will also include Sandra Poindexter, violins; Bobby Cobb, guitar and Randall Merritt, drums. Award-winning actress and performance artist Rhodessa Jones will also be featured.

Artistic Being inaugurates a new approach to "live" concert production with the use of digital tools demonstrating a major shift in the empowerment of jazz musicians to produce, record, and distribute original audio and video from conception to realization! The double vinyl album will be released by Strut Records in celebration of International Record Day supporting independent record stores which is a Global phenomenon selling exclusive, limited-edition vinyl records for one day only!

For the April 19 performance at The Lab Idris Ackamoor and The Pyramids will perform music from Artistic Being, including several compositions featuring actress/spoken word artist, Rhodessa Jones, who has just been awarded a San Francisco Art Commission Artistic Legacy Grant presented at the Commission's Annual Arts Convening at the Herbst Theatre in San Francisco. She will be featured on "The Grandma Cole Story", a poignant indictment of the slave trade told through the eyes of a ten-year-old African girl aboard a slave ship. The band will perform "NOW!", a message to heal the world from hate and war, and "Moonlight and Sunshine" written and dedicated to the audiences around the world who have supported the music of the band.

In addition, Idris will premiere newly composed music for the band including, "Sanctify My Soul", a spiritual jazz composition inspired by John Coltrane's "A Love Supreme", and "Exotictress", a romantic mesmerizing island fantasy of love. The evening will also feature special "surprise" musicians from the fertile Bay Area music scene and an excerpt from an upcoming film documentary on the making of Artistic Being.

Price: General Admission: USD 25.00