The textural expansion of jazz music began in the midst of 1970s America. Extending the continuum of established genres like bebop and swing, musicians launched spatial quests towards worlds unknown in a deep search and return to their cultural identity. Guided by avant-garde scales and convulsive rhythms, jazz was the arena for transgressive modes of self-expression that not only opened pathways to higher planes of consciousness but introduced newer possibilities to the ways in which Black musicians could position themselves. It lubricated the imagination of many pioneers as ideas of space travel, cosmic identity and liberation initiated the birthing process of the concept ‘Afrofuturism’.

As James Brown’s affirmative anthem ‘Say It Loud - I’m Black and I’m Proud’, and the Black Panther movement empowered new ways of existing into the minds of Black Americans, a creative and political awakening was taking place within the halls of Antioch College, Ohio. After changing his name to embody the richness of his African ancestry, a young Idris Ackamoor gathered a few of his peers and formed the ensemble, Idris Ackamoor & The Pyramids. Their contribution to the realms of spiritual jazz has since spanned over 50 years with a sonic legacy that has gone on to influence today’s musicians including Sons of Kemet, Flying Lotus, Kokoroko and Kamasi Washington.

And now they return with their latest album ‘Afro Futuristic Dreams’. It’s a magnificent nine-track voyage into Ackamoor’s solar system guided by ceremony, remembrance, storytelling and outstanding musicianship. “The compositions of this album pay homage to the present Afrofuturism movement that has embraced the science-fiction writers Octavia Butler and Samuel R. Delany, the musician Sun Ra and my own work with The Pyramids,” Ackamoor tells me from his home on San Francisco.

But let’s go back. Ackamoor and original band members, Marguex Simmons and Kimathi Asante, spent their college years studying under the guidance of improvisational pianist Cecil Taylor who encouraged them to visit Africa for a deeper understanding of their culture and the art of performance. So, after debuting The Pyramids across Europe, they planted their feet first in Morocco then Ethiopia, Senegal, Kenya, Uganda and Ghana where they studied directly from a multitude of tribes and communities. In Ghana they went to Osu in Accra and then Ackamoor and then-wife Simmons went onto Tamale, which was home of the Dagomba people. He recounts, “Around that time, the Dagomba people were a part of the Mali Empire. The King had prayer drummers and we played saxophone and flute in their prayer circle for over a week.”

The connections they made lead them to the Bolgatanga region of Ghana amongst the FraFra people who taught them about animism and the spiritual practices of juju. “I underwent a sacred ceremony in a hut with the priest called ‘the washing of the legs’ involving magic and chanting. He empowered my body and my spirit.” With melodic offerings on the saxophone and flute combined with their eagerness to learn, the pair took part in another communal ceremony for the burial of the FraFra king. And after an intensive year of study throughout the continent, they returned to Antioch to graduate as esteemed musicians with a comprehensive understanding of African griot traditions.

The band would perform adorned in African garments and jewels to emanate the spiritual processions they had witnessed. Ackamoor recalls how most of their shows would begin with the deep bellow of a didgeridoo that activates a call and response between himself and the audience. “We start to sing ‘We be all Africans now, coming from the motherland…’ We begin at the back of the audience then we come through the audience to create a sense of community. In theatre they say that's breaking the fourth wall where we erase the barrier between performer and audience and that’s very African. When you’re in a ceremony it’s hard to determine the difference between the performer and the audience so that continues to be a tradition in our concerts and my music.”

Ackamoor is intentional about facilitating an environment where everyone can surrender entirely to the present moment, allowing for blissful, out of body experiences through the shared appreciation of sound. It’s a practice that was also taught to him by Cecil Taylor’s performances. “It’s like his whole brain is either exploding or he’s out in the universe on some distant planet and that’s how I approach my saxophone. I could play very sweet and very melodic, a little bit like Gato Barbieri or Pharoah Sanders. To have the whole range of intensity, chaos and beauty at the same time could happen in one solo.”

In the making of ‘Afro Futuristic Dreams’, Ackamoor relied on his improvisational senses to produce the elaborate compositions, specifically in the closing track ‘Nice It Up’. “We end the album with repeating these amazing, trance-inducing dance rhythms with kalimbas and mbiras,” he tells me. “The album goes through a whole gamut but it's all still rooted in Africa.” The track ‘Thank You God’ is a 13-minutes opus that exists in the same realm as timeless devotionals like ‘Love Supreme’ by John Coltrane. Ackamoor imbues this composition with feelings of gratitude for still being able to share his music after half a century as a composer, instrumentalist and band leader. “I began to compose this when I was on the beach in Jamaica and it was this amazing moment where I was giving blessings to my family, my mother, my father, paying homage to the ancestors and thanking God that I got through this terrible pandemic, when millions of people didn’t.”

He’s not a person that involves himself with organised faiths but quotes the famous beat poet, Ted Joans in saying, “Jazz is my religion”. Music is his spiritual fortress and the essence of sound is something he learnt ahead of his time. It’s a track that stays close to his heart as it's also a marker of his growth as a lyricist, composer and saxophonist. The influence of Fela Kuti and Bob Marley is also distinguishable in Ackamoor’s expression, mainly in the percussion-heavy ‘Police Dem’. With a lyrically-sharp call and response he speaks on police brutality and the oppression of the youths atop a flourishing horn section. Marvin Gaye, Gil Scott Heron and The Last Poets are felt in Ackamoor’s creative outpour as well thanks to their political and mind-opening reflections of society. “My favourite artists are people who take a stance. It is a performer's duty to have something to say.”

Yet in the same breath he reflects on the importance of leaving room for listeners to arrive at their own appreciation for each song. “I feel like as a musician we make beauty and in that beauty, the audience or an individual can be inspired and be socially conscious. It’s my duty to make the world a better place through my music.” Ackamoor also sees himself as a bridge between the past and present of music by keeping his ears attuned to the sounds of new experimental musicians such as Kojey Radical and Sampa The Great. “I’m enjoying these other artists and learning from their visuals and what they’re talking about.”

During their golden years, The Pyramids recorded and distributed their albums independently with no support from record labels or radio stations but eventually went their separate ways in 1977. “For myself it was difficult to break up because I had put everything into the family band. I went through a couple of years where it was hard to make a living so I was pawning my instruments. I was in the trenches.” Then he read a magazine article that suggested musicians become their own non-profit organisations and he went on to form the NGO Cultural Odyssey. “In Africa, I learnt about interdisciplinary performers. The griot was a musician and a storyteller, he wore costumes, did rituals and he was a dancer. So, I wanted to combine music, theatre and dance from the African tradition into a single organisation.” Eventually he began performing again via the medium of theatre with an accompanying ensemble which provided financial stability and the means to express himself.

In 2007 people began to wonder about Idris Ackamoor & The Pyramids and record companies were eager to reissue the albums ‘Lalibela’ and ‘Earth / Speed / Merging’. The resurgence of the demand for soul-moving music brought the original band members back together. In 2010 a German booking agent got them touring again and in 2011 Disco B put out their next record, ‘The Other Wordly’. They went on to sign to Strut Records for ‘We Be All Africans’ and ‘Afro Futuristic Dreams’, ensuring their evolution and revolution continues.

Ackamoor seals our conversation with his tender visions of the future, calling on health and strength to continue on his path while enlarging the depth of his craft through study and practice. “I’m already composing music for the next album and I’m creating this kind of regimen where I feel I’m ready to step on that stage and enjoy myself. I’ve learnt during this long process of how to sustain myself as a musician and I’m at that rarefied era now where I’m one of the first of my generation to sell my complete catalogue to IK7 and Strut Records. I’ve always wanted to have a place where my music can live for decades and can be passed on to my daughter and granddaughter.”

‘Afro Futuristic Dreams’ by Idris Ackamoor & The Pyramids is out now on Strut Records. Discover it here.