Music / jazz

An angel fell


Reviews (5)


All about jazz

d. 3. Apr. 2018

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Chris May

d. 3. Apr. 2018

"Ackamoor's saxophone style is all the things you love about Pharoah Sanders while also being recognisably his own. His compositions range from exotica-tinged ballads to gutsy free-jazz work-outs. The groove never lets up, and takes in hip hop, rock and, on one track, reggae. Succinct vocals are used on half the tracks and the lyrics are eloquent and relevant (about the environment, equal rights and the universal need for love). The most moving track, as it happens, uses no lyrics. On "Soliloquy For Michael Brown," named after the young African American shot dead by a white policeman in Ferguson, Missouri in 2014, Ackamoor's saxophone essays a heart-wrenching lament which needs no words to communicate its message. The album was recorded in London, and the production, by Malcolm Catto, drummer with and producer of Britain's Sun Ra, Ethio-Jazz and dub-focused band The Heliocentrics, is straightforward and unobtrusive".


The observer

d. 13. May 2018

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Neil Spencer

d. 13. May 2018

"It's taken the world 30-odd years to catch up with Idris Ackamoor, the time between the trio of Afro-jazz albums he cut in the 1970s and his re-emergence in 2016 with "We Be All Africans". Ackamoor (born Bruce Baker in 1951) grew up in Chicago and was mentored by pianist Cecil Taylor before forming a group he led on a cross-Africa odyssey, presenting his music with theatrical panache - he still takes to the stage in pharaonic headdress. Ghanaian Afrobeat is one of the flavours in play, notably on the driving opener Tinoge, but his tenor sax often recalls the avant-gardism of Pharoah Sanders and he can be stately and lyrical when he chooses ... He (...) overlays his music with Sun Ra-style chants dedicated to ecological themes on tracks such as Warrior Dance ... The production of Malcolm Catto, of London's Heliocentrics, adds subtle, atmospheric touches, notably on the squelching dub of "Land of Ra". Deep and inspirational".


UK vibe

d. 6. undefined 2018

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Tim Stenhouse

d. 6. undefined 2018

"The new album will (...) appeal to a wider audience beyond the traditional confines of jazz and devotees of dub reggae in particular will find much in common in the music contained within. Overarching the work of the Pyramids is a lifelong attraction to both the music and philosophy of Sun Ra, and thus the homage paid to him on "Land of Ra" should come as little surprise. It is a bubbling percussive number with dub effect on congas and drums, and collective vocal chants ... [Another] source of inspiration (...) would surely be the saxophone and socio-political outlook of Archie Shepp, and the leader himself has clearly been influenced in both respects by Shepp. Overall, the use of dub effects works beautifully within the context of politically aware left-field jazz and the biggest complement that one can pay Idris Ackamoor & the Pyramids is that Sun Ra himself would surely have approved this band and their Afro-centric direction. A prime contender for the year's best album front cover and very 1970's in outlook".


LondonJazz news

d. 12. May 2018

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Peter Jones

d. 12. May 2018

"The band describe themselves as cosmic jazz travellers, thus adding further energy to the growing West Coast Afro-futurist-spiritual revival: Kamasi Washington is leading the way, along with the post-Sun Ra Arkestra and veteran LA singer Dwight Trible. But this kind of music has deep roots, and branches that grow in different directions, from John Coltrane and Yusef Lateef to Parliament-Funkadelic. There is also an important political dimension to the movement's themes of black power and the aspiration for a better world. "An Angel Fell" embraces a number of musical styles, including dub reggae ("Land of Ra"), Afro-Cuban ("Sunset"), psychedelic rock ("Warrior Dance") and free-form jazz ("Soliloquy for Michael Brown"). But perhaps their most characteristic sound is the sort of repetitive chanting that Sun Ra specialized in".


fRoots

2018 Autumn

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Jamie Renton

2018 Autumn

"There's a fair bit of this [Sun] Ra-influenced stuff about at the moment and most of it tends to disappear up itself. The difference here is the inventiveness of the arrangements, the playfulness and melodic strength frequently on display, the quality of playing and the obsious passion and commitment of all involved".