Tuesday 24 January 2012

The Pyramids

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The first time I stepped foot at Cafe Oto was to see Owiny Sigoma and supporting them was Michael KiwanukaI was blown away by how talented both bands were and how the intimate space at Cafe Oto made it all an even more memorable experience. The only thing I regretted about that night,  was not taking my camera along.  This time with two tickets bought to see The Pyramids, I knew straight away that I had to pack my little camera to take a few snaps. I was in complete awe for pretty much the whole time. Astonished by the incredible amount of instruments laid on the stage and for a second I thought, no way they are going to play them all! To begin the show, they came out of the back room of the cafe each with an instrument and together with an unbelievable voice and winning smile interactive Bradie Speller who is also a percussionist and Rhythm Programmer, began to encourage the crowd to join in. 

Nearly 40 years since the founding of the group in 1972, The Pyramids have reunited and toured Europe during November and December 2010, and most recently the summer of 2011.  In the early 70's as students with passion for music and experimentation, they travelled around through the heart of Africa to places such as rock churches in Lalibela, Ethiopia and the pyramids in Egypt. They immersed themselves in the African and Egyptian culture absorbing wonderful sounds and techniques. Now after all these years they have reunited to produce high energy, extremely interactive, psychedelic Afro music.
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Idris Ackamoor is a multi-instrumentalist, composer, tap dancer, actor, director, and producer. He is the Founder and Executive/Co-Artistic Director of the San Francisco performance company Cultural Odyssey. His main instrument he plays is alto saxophone and with his passion and flair for experimental music, he takes the listener on a fantastic trip with him changing instruments and connecting deeply with his band members. During the gig just when we thought there could be no more instruments to play, Idris pulled out his tap shoes and pretty much tapped around creating wonderful music whilst Kash Killion played the Cello to the sounds of his feet. 

The thing that I most admired about the band is the feeling of  'one uppering'. Each band member played to the strength of the other and at times pushed each others buttons to push boundaries with the music they played. 
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Kenneth Nash is an accomplished musician, composer, producer,  and author is building bridges of sound with compositions that unite numerous forms and idioms. His music is influenced by Cuban, African, jazz, funk and hip-hop. 

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Thomas Williams (Kimathi Asante)  the founding member of The Pyramids has studied the trombone, string bass and tuba. 
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During intermission, The Pyramids took the time to mingle with the crowd and talking to them about their journey and how they reunited. I felt connected when Bradie Speller came towards us and greeted us. He took the time to listen to what we had to say about the night and seemed genuinely interested in our point of view. Idris had a few costumes changes through out the night! From a leopard printed robe and a head piece to a golden suit then finally a sequences zebra printed suit with matching hats it was definitely a wonderful performance. 
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Kash Killion is a San Francisco based sarangi player, cellist, bassist, vocalist, and composer. He plays sarangi and other string instruments in unusual situations and plays any style of music and make is sound authentic. 


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Their fourth album Otherworldly - is inspired by the way they perceive music. Even though they are using authentic instruments, they find inspiration to play them in diverse ways.  To find out more about The Pyramids, head to

Many thanks goes out to Paul Cross for introducing me to this incredible band. A very  inspirational night! 












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