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LP
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DB 165LP
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2015 repress. On 180 gram vinyl. Birth/Speed/Merging, originally released in 1976, represents the San Francisco Bay Area era of the band. Relocating from Yellow Springs, Ohio in 1974, The Pyramids quickly met other musicians in the thriving San Francisco Bay Area music scene. "The Pyramids, a criminally under-recognised spiritual jazz collective, were birthed at the dawn of the 1970s in Ohio, and included saxophonist Idris Ackamoor, flautist Margo Simmons, bassist Kimathi Asante and drummer Donald Robinson. Delving deep into a world of pan-African rhythms and melodies, they combined them in novel ways with the psychedelic modal jazz simmering in America at the time. The group released three private-press records in the US throughout the 70s, highly regarded by collectors, which consistently fetched incredibly large sums of money." -- savagesaints.blogspot.com
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LP
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DB 164LP
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2014 restock. On 180 gram vinyl. King of Kings (1974) was the second album that reunited all original members including drummer Donald Robinson while adding several special guests, pianist Jerome Sanders and cellist Chris Chafe. King of Kings was recorded at Appalachia Sound Recording Studio located several hours away from Antioch in Chillicothe, Ohio. Unknown to the band at the time, Chillicothe was the site of ancient Indian burial mounds. This reality added to the very spiritual quality of the recording. The opening track "Mogho Naba" continued the group's fascination and interest in African history and reflections. The Mogho Naba is the King of the Mossi people in what is now Burkina Faso, but dates back in antiquity. The tune's rhythm is infectious. The use of call and response chants and beautiful horn lines is meant to hypnotize and induce trance-elevating spiritual consciousness. "Queen of the Spirits" was written as a dedication to flautist Margaux Simmons. It is one of the band's favorite pieces of music. Utilizing the Ugandan harp, the African one-string fiddle (goge), percussion, piano, and cello, the closing is prescient harking to world music and music for meditation that would come years later. The UK band Bonobo sampled a section of the composition for their European hit album Days to Come.
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LP
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DB 163LP
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2014 restock. 180 gram vinyl. Founded 40 years ago in 1972, The Pyramids released three albums before splitting up in 1977. Lalibela (1973) was the first album recorded by The Pyramids following their landmark journey throughout Africa as students from Antioch College in Yellow Springs, Ohio. The album is one of the first cutting-edge "concept" albums, as each side of the LP seamlessly flows from one composition to the next in the vein of a suite painting a musical portrait of the African adventure experienced by founding members Idris Ackamoor, Margaux Simmons, and Kimathi Asante. Lalibela, Ethiopia was the inspiration for the album. A journey to experience the 12th-century rock churches of Lalibela by Margaux and Idris closed out their nine-month African odyssey. The personnel for the recording was augmented by new members percussionist Bradie Speller (Hekaptah), drummer Marcel Lytle, and soprano saxophonist Tony Owens (Masai). The album has plenty percussion-driven rhythms, beautiful alto sax and flute melodies, soaring and "out" improvisations, ritualistic chants, meditative tone pieces, high energy modal jams, and exotic African instruments collected during the African trip.
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3CD BOX
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DB 162CD
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Founded 40 years ago in 1972, The Pyramids released three albums before splitting up in 1977: Lalibela (1973), King of Kings (1974), and the seminal Birth/Speed/Merging LP (1976). Three albums that made them one of the most mysterious and legendary of all the spiritual cosmic jazz collectives of the early '70s, like the Art Ensemble of Chicago and Sun Ra. "We were way ahead of our time, so we decided to let time catch up." -- Idris Ackamoor. After a highly energetic reunion of the group in 2007, The Pyramids released Otherworldly (DB 159CD), the first Pyramids' album in over 35 years. To complete the story of The Pyramids, Disko B now re-releases these three rare recordings in a triple CD box under the title: They Play to Make Music Fire! The Pyramids 1973-1976. Lalibela was the first album recorded by The Pyramids following their landmark journey throughout Africa as students from Antioch College in Yellow Springs, Ohio. The album is one of the first cutting-edge "concept" albums as each side of the LP seamlessly flows from one composition to the next in the vein of a suite painting a musical portrait of the African adventure experienced by founding members Idris Ackamoor, Margaux Simmons, and Kimathi Asante. Lalibela, Ethiopia was the inspiration for the album. A journey to experience the 12th century rock churches of Lalibela by Margaux and Idris closed out their nine-month African odyssey. The personnel for the recording was augmented by new members percussionist Bradie Speller (Hekaptah), drummer Marcel Lytle, and soprano saxophonist Tony Owens (Masai). The album has plenty percussion driven rhythms, beautiful alto sax and flute melodies, soaring out-there improvisations, ritualistic chants, meditative tone pieces, high energy modal jams, and exotic African instruments collected during the African trip. King of Kings was the second album that reunited all original members including drummer Donald Robinson while adding several special guests, pianist Jerome Sanders, and cellist Chris Chafe. King of Kings was recorded at Appalachia Sound Recording Studio located several hours away from Antioch in Chillicothe, Ohio. Unknown to the band at the time, Chillicothe was the site of ancient Indian burial mounds. This reality added to the very spiritual quality of the recording. The opening track "Mogho Naba" continued the groups' fascination and interest in African history and reflections. The Mogho Naba is the King of the Mossi people in what is now Burkina Faso, but dates back in antiquity. The tune's rhythm is infectious. The use of call and response chants and beautiful horn lines is meant to hypnotize and induce trance elevating spiritual consciousness. "Queen of the Spirits" was written as a dedication to flautist Margaux Simmons. It is one of the bands' favorite pieces of music. Utilizing the Ugandan harp, the African one string fiddle (goge), percussion, piano, and cello, the closing is prescient harking to world music and music for meditation that would come years later. The UK band Bonobo sampled a section of the composition for their hit album Days to Come. Birth/Speed/Merging represents the San Francisco Bay Area era of the band. Relocating from Yellow Springs, Ohio in 1974, The Pyramids quickly met other musicians in the thriving San Francisco Bay Area music scene. After the departure of original member Kimathi to continue his African studies a very talented acoustic bass player named Heshima Mark Williams joined the band along with a new conga player named Mcheza Ngoma and new drummer Augusta Lee Collins. The Pyramids began working extensively around the area. Within the next year Kimathi returned from his travels and rejoined the band. The Pyramids now had two bass players; one acoustic and one electric. The composition "Jamaican Carnival" pays homage to the beautiful Caribbean island Jamaica and is one of the bands' most danceable tunes. For the composition "Birth/Speed/Merging Suite" the band utilized the brilliant percussionist Kenneth Nash to play on the track and it is one of the bands' most interesting and exotic compositions. There are a variety of unusual and beautiful percussion and string instruments used on the track featuring the Ugandan Harp, the Chinese Cheng, and a string instrument called the rosenbow. The composition is an aural delight of unusual sounds and beautiful colors. The box comes with a booklet and video of the band.
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2LP
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DB 159LP
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2015 repress. Gatefold double LP version on 180 gram vinyl. Founded 40 years ago in 1972, The Pyramids release their first album in over 35 years. They released three albums before splitting up in 1977 -- albums that made them one of the most mysterious and legendary of all the spiritual cosmic jazz collectives of the early '70s. There was a highly energetic reunion in 2007, boosting their trademark sound of massive Afro-centric drums and percussion meeting ecstatic group improvisations. The Pyramids' extensive European tours in 2010/2011 turned out to be a great triumph: mesmerizing audiences at various clubs and festivals all over Europe with a new sound and a new band configuration featuring founding members Idris Ackamoor and Kimathi Asante, original member Bradie Speller, and special guest artists Kenneth Nash and Kash Killion. The collective received rave reviews and standing ovations in every city they played in. They also blew Gilles Peterson's mind at Worldwide Festival and the Worldwide Awards, where The Pyramids' spiritual and musical leader, Idris Ackamoor was honored with a Lifetime Achievement Award. In summer 2011, The Pyramids were recording tracks for a new double album (the first since 1976) at the studio of Krautrock legends Faust in South Germany. The new album contains 14 never-before-released tracks. The Pyramids' signature sound is still percussion-driven -- no surprise with Nash and Speller being two of the most masterful percussionists on the planet. Another signature style of The Pyramids is the "two bass" concept, combining Kash Killion's acoustic bass with electric bass by Thomas "Kimathi Asante" Williams. Idris Ackamoor plays his alto sax in an absolutely astonishing way, sometimes simultaneously performing tap dance to create percussive rhythms, suggesting a "post-be-bop Prince" as The New York Times called him. The Pyramids trip out into unexplored territory of spontaneous improvisation, sometimes trancing like off to an outer/inner-space journey. The Pyramids were world music even before the term was coined back in the early '70s. They use a battery of ethnic instruments such as mbira, calypso boxes, Russian zither, West African bolong, Egyptian sensemia harp, pygmy whistle, etc., using them in a manner quite otherworldly.
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CD
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DB 159CD
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Founded 40 years ago in 1972, The Pyramids release their first album in over 35 years. They released three albums before splitting up in 1977 -- albums that made them one of the most mysterious and legendary of all the spiritual cosmic jazz collectives of the early '70s. There was a highly energetic reunion in 2007, boosting their trademark sound of massive Afro-centric drums and percussion meeting ecstatic group improvisations. The Pyramids' extensive European tours in 2010/2011 turned out to be a great triumph: mesmerizing audiences at various clubs and festivals all over Europe with a new sound and a new band configuration featuring founding members Idris Ackamoor and Kimathi Asante, original member Bradie Speller, and special guest artists Kenneth Nash and Kash Killion. The collective received rave reviews and standing ovations in every city they played in. They also blew Gilles Peterson's mind at Worldwide Festival and the Worldwide Awards, where The Pyramids' spiritual and musical leader, Idris Ackamoor was honored with a Lifetime Achievement Award. In summer 2011, The Pyramids were recording tracks for a new double album (the first since 1976) at the studio of Krautrock legends Faust in South Germany. The new album contains 14 never-before-released tracks. The Pyramids' signature sound is still percussion-driven -- no surprise with Nash and Speller being two of the most masterful percussionists on the planet. Another signature style of The Pyramids is the "two bass" concept, combining Kash Killion's acoustic bass with electric bass by Thomas "Kimathi Asante" Williams. Idris Ackamoor plays his alto sax in an absolutely astonishing way, sometimes simultaneously performing tap dance to create percussive rhythms, suggesting a "post-be-bop Prince" as The New York Times called him. The Pyramids trip out into unexplored territory of spontaneous improvisation, sometimes trancing like off to an outer/inner-space journey. The Pyramids were world music even before the term was coined back in the early '70s. They use a battery of ethnic instruments such as mbira, calypso boxes, Russian zither, West African bolong, Egyptian sensemia harp, pygmy whistle, etc., using them in a manner quite otherworldly.
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