Biography
Saxophonist and composer Idris Ackamoor founded and has long directed the Pyramids, an Afrocentric ensemble blending world music with spiritual jazz in a creative space that intersects the exploratory paths charted by Sun Ra and the Art Ensemble of Chicago, albeit with its own priorities. The group issued three albums across the 1970s—Lalibela, King of Kings, and Birth/Speed/Merging—that went on to shape the work of multiple later generations. After decades of dormancy, Ackamoor reassembled the Pyramids in 2015, restoring them as an active touring and recording unit that secured a deal with the U.K. imprint Strut; the resulting releases include We Be All Africans in 2016, An Angel Fell in 2018, Shaman! in 2021, and Afro Futuristic Dreams in 2023.
Born Bruce Baker in Chicago’s South Side in 1950, Ackamoor developed an early passion for music and studied saxophone, clarinet, piano, violin, and trumpet. High-school athletics earned him a basketball scholarship to college, yet during his initial term he experienced a decisive shift and recognized music as his calling. He moved to Ohio’s Antioch College, where he majored in music and, in the early 1970s, studied under pianist Cecil Taylor alongside flutist Margaux Simmons—later his spouse—and bassist Kimathi Asante, the three original members of the Pyramids. Ackamoor drafted a plan for a jazz ensemble to travel through Europe and onward to Africa. The musicians reached France in 1972 before proceeding to Amsterdam with Parisian drummer Donald Robinson; upon arriving in Africa that December as a trio—Robinson having stayed behind—they journeyed through Morocco, including Rabat and Casablanca, then continued to Dakar, Senegal, and Accra, Ghana. There they settled temporarily, met Hugh Masekela during his work with Hedzoleh Soundz, absorbed local rhythms and harmonies, amassed a wide array of instruments, and fused those elements with free jazz and funk to forge their distinctive style. Performances took them across Uganda, Kenya, and Ethiopia, while Ackamoor captured field recordings, drawing particular inspiration from the drummers of Lalibela.
Upon returning to Ohio in 1973, Ackamoor completed his degree and the Pyramids became his full-time focus. Following Cecil Taylor’s model of self-released recordings, the group recorded, produced, and issued its debut, Lalibela, that same year on four-track in an edition of five hundred copies sold at shows and through personal networks; proceeds funded a second pressing and established the pattern for King of Kings in 1974. Their music fused free and spiritual jazz, African rhythmic influences, and deep roots in American R&B and funk, while their concerts integrated percussion, theatrical elements, and dance. After relocating to San Francisco and releasing Birth, Speed, Merging in 1976 on the Bay Area arts circuit, the original lineup disbanded following a closing performance at the UC Berkeley Jazz Festival in 1977.
For nearly two decades Ackamoor concentrated on Cultural Odyssey, issuing only sporadic recordings; a 1985 double A-side single paired “Acka Backa” with “Your Body,” yet his primary outlets remained Cultural Odyssey projects and live work. In 1992 he shared an Izzie Award with choreographer/dancer Bill T. Jones and Rhodessa Jones for the choreography of Perfect Courage. The Idris Ackamoor Ensemble released Portrait on the independent Aomawa Music label in 1997 and followed with Centurian the same year on Cultural Odyssey Records. The San Francisco Bay Guardian conferred a lifetime achievement award on Ackamoor in 2003 for his interdisciplinary contributions, and he issued the double album Homage to Cuba in 2004.
Ackamoor sustained his leadership of Cultural Odyssey, acquiring skills in bookkeeping, grant writing, editing, and filmmaking; the U.S. Department of State’s Educational and Cultural Affairs Bureau twice appointed him an arts envoy. In that capacity he traveled to Johannesburg, South Africa, leading residency programs inside the Naturena Women’s Prison alongside Rhodessa Jones. He undertook his first U.S. Department of State Speaker’s Tour of Russia in 2007, presenting performances and workshops at the University of Moscow, The American Center, and University of Rayzen. Continued audience and musician inquiries about the Pyramids—whose catalog had been reissued on vinyl both officially and unofficially—prompted Ackamoor to organize reunions in 2004 and 2007. The group completed its inaugural European tour in 2010, focusing on 1970s repertoire, and recorded fresh material at Faust Studios in 2011 for the album Otherworldly, marking their first post-reunion release. The new quintet featured drummer Kenneth Nash, second bassist Kash Killion, and percussionist/electronicist Bradie Speller, as Simmons and Asante opted out of touring for financial and health considerations.
Ackamoor received a Lifetime Achievement award from BBC’s Gilles Peterson in 2012 and issued The Beginning of the Second Earth with Cultural Odyssey. A burst of 2014 recordings encompassed Idrissa’s Dream under the Collective name, Live in Europe with pianist Hakeem Muhammad, The Periphery of the Periphery by the Idris Ackamoor Paris Quartet, and Ascent of the Nether Creatures in collaboration with Rashid Al Akbar, Muhammad Ali, and Earl Cross. The Pyramids remained central, culminating in the 2016 reconvening that produced the widely praised We Be All Africans, tracked at Max Weissenfeldt’s analog Philophon studio in Berlin and released by Strut. Following extensive tours and festival dates, Ackamoor reassembled the group in 2018 as a sextet—himself on alto and tenor saxophone, keytar, and lead vocals; Sandra Poindexter on violin and lead vocals; David Molina on guitar and backing vocals; Skyler Stover on double bass and backing vocals; Bradie Speller on congas and vocals; and Johann Polzer on drums—to record An Angel Fell, issued by Strut in May.
In early 2020 the Pyramids, rejoined by founding flutist Dr. Margaux Simmons, entered the studio with producer Malcolm Catto to track the spiritual jazz-funk album Shaman!, released in 2021. After widespread acclaim, extensive European and Asian radio airplay, and a successful tour, Ackamoor returned home to compose, then reconvened Catto and the ensemble first in San Francisco and later at the producer’s London studio. The resulting charts incorporated scripted vocal choruses, strings, layered organic percussion, and non-Western polyrhythms; titled Afro Futuristic Dreams and released in September 2023, the album interwove modal, West African, and South African harmonies with free and spiritual jazz approaches.
Born Bruce Baker in Chicago’s South Side in 1950, Ackamoor developed an early passion for music and studied saxophone, clarinet, piano, violin, and trumpet. High-school athletics earned him a basketball scholarship to college, yet during his initial term he experienced a decisive shift and recognized music as his calling. He moved to Ohio’s Antioch College, where he majored in music and, in the early 1970s, studied under pianist Cecil Taylor alongside flutist Margaux Simmons—later his spouse—and bassist Kimathi Asante, the three original members of the Pyramids. Ackamoor drafted a plan for a jazz ensemble to travel through Europe and onward to Africa. The musicians reached France in 1972 before proceeding to Amsterdam with Parisian drummer Donald Robinson; upon arriving in Africa that December as a trio—Robinson having stayed behind—they journeyed through Morocco, including Rabat and Casablanca, then continued to Dakar, Senegal, and Accra, Ghana. There they settled temporarily, met Hugh Masekela during his work with Hedzoleh Soundz, absorbed local rhythms and harmonies, amassed a wide array of instruments, and fused those elements with free jazz and funk to forge their distinctive style. Performances took them across Uganda, Kenya, and Ethiopia, while Ackamoor captured field recordings, drawing particular inspiration from the drummers of Lalibela.
Upon returning to Ohio in 1973, Ackamoor completed his degree and the Pyramids became his full-time focus. Following Cecil Taylor’s model of self-released recordings, the group recorded, produced, and issued its debut, Lalibela, that same year on four-track in an edition of five hundred copies sold at shows and through personal networks; proceeds funded a second pressing and established the pattern for King of Kings in 1974. Their music fused free and spiritual jazz, African rhythmic influences, and deep roots in American R&B and funk, while their concerts integrated percussion, theatrical elements, and dance. After relocating to San Francisco and releasing Birth, Speed, Merging in 1976 on the Bay Area arts circuit, the original lineup disbanded following a closing performance at the UC Berkeley Jazz Festival in 1977.
For nearly two decades Ackamoor concentrated on Cultural Odyssey, issuing only sporadic recordings; a 1985 double A-side single paired “Acka Backa” with “Your Body,” yet his primary outlets remained Cultural Odyssey projects and live work. In 1992 he shared an Izzie Award with choreographer/dancer Bill T. Jones and Rhodessa Jones for the choreography of Perfect Courage. The Idris Ackamoor Ensemble released Portrait on the independent Aomawa Music label in 1997 and followed with Centurian the same year on Cultural Odyssey Records. The San Francisco Bay Guardian conferred a lifetime achievement award on Ackamoor in 2003 for his interdisciplinary contributions, and he issued the double album Homage to Cuba in 2004.
Ackamoor sustained his leadership of Cultural Odyssey, acquiring skills in bookkeeping, grant writing, editing, and filmmaking; the U.S. Department of State’s Educational and Cultural Affairs Bureau twice appointed him an arts envoy. In that capacity he traveled to Johannesburg, South Africa, leading residency programs inside the Naturena Women’s Prison alongside Rhodessa Jones. He undertook his first U.S. Department of State Speaker’s Tour of Russia in 2007, presenting performances and workshops at the University of Moscow, The American Center, and University of Rayzen. Continued audience and musician inquiries about the Pyramids—whose catalog had been reissued on vinyl both officially and unofficially—prompted Ackamoor to organize reunions in 2004 and 2007. The group completed its inaugural European tour in 2010, focusing on 1970s repertoire, and recorded fresh material at Faust Studios in 2011 for the album Otherworldly, marking their first post-reunion release. The new quintet featured drummer Kenneth Nash, second bassist Kash Killion, and percussionist/electronicist Bradie Speller, as Simmons and Asante opted out of touring for financial and health considerations.
Ackamoor received a Lifetime Achievement award from BBC’s Gilles Peterson in 2012 and issued The Beginning of the Second Earth with Cultural Odyssey. A burst of 2014 recordings encompassed Idrissa’s Dream under the Collective name, Live in Europe with pianist Hakeem Muhammad, The Periphery of the Periphery by the Idris Ackamoor Paris Quartet, and Ascent of the Nether Creatures in collaboration with Rashid Al Akbar, Muhammad Ali, and Earl Cross. The Pyramids remained central, culminating in the 2016 reconvening that produced the widely praised We Be All Africans, tracked at Max Weissenfeldt’s analog Philophon studio in Berlin and released by Strut. Following extensive tours and festival dates, Ackamoor reassembled the group in 2018 as a sextet—himself on alto and tenor saxophone, keytar, and lead vocals; Sandra Poindexter on violin and lead vocals; David Molina on guitar and backing vocals; Skyler Stover on double bass and backing vocals; Bradie Speller on congas and vocals; and Johann Polzer on drums—to record An Angel Fell, issued by Strut in May.
In early 2020 the Pyramids, rejoined by founding flutist Dr. Margaux Simmons, entered the studio with producer Malcolm Catto to track the spiritual jazz-funk album Shaman!, released in 2021. After widespread acclaim, extensive European and Asian radio airplay, and a successful tour, Ackamoor returned home to compose, then reconvened Catto and the ensemble first in San Francisco and later at the producer’s London studio. The resulting charts incorporated scripted vocal choruses, strings, layered organic percussion, and non-Western polyrhythms; titled Afro Futuristic Dreams and released in September 2023, the album interwove modal, West African, and South African harmonies with free and spiritual jazz approaches.
Albums
Singles
