Asher Gamedze - Turbulence and Pulse [International Anthem]

Format: LP + Gatefold + Obi.

Cape Town, South Africa-based drummer Asher Gamedze explores the relationships of time between music and history on his new album, Turbulence and Pulse, which will be released on May 5, 2023.

Gamedze's acclaimed debut album, Dialectic Soul, was released in July 2020, in the midst of the Covid-19 pandemic. Around the release of that record, he organized and participated in an online conversation called "Poesis" along with his friend and writer Teju Adeleye, historian Robin D.G. Kelley, and others. One of the most notable comments from that session was from poet and scholar Fred Moten, who described Gamedze's drumming as “an astounding interplay between turbulence and pulse. The pulse is supposed to regulate and be regular, but the turbulence under and over it is just extraordinary.” Moten added that this concept is a fundamental element of the percussive approach in Black music in general.

Turbulence and Pulse takes its title from this moment of synchronicity. Inspired by that description, Gamedze further developed the metaphor, expanding the concept of turbulence and pulse from a historical perspective. “Time in music is a metaphor for thinking about time in history and how it moves,” he says. “The way we are taught history usually takes away people's ability to imagine themselves as part of it and its development. It's something that just happens to us. I think there's a useful metaphor there, because the notion of time in music is created by musicians playing together. If we use that to think about history and time in history, we can see that history is actually created by people in many ways. Essentially, historical movement is generated by people organizing and acting together, whether for progressive or reactionary purposes.”

For Gamedze, the central message of Turbulence and Pulse is “to reclaim a form of historical agency and understand that the future is not predetermined. As people, we can organize to transform our world in small and large ways.” This concept stems from his involvement in radical cultural activism and political organizing. He adds, “One of the ideas I've had for a long time is to question the way people perceive culture as something static or fixed. In Africa there is a tension because of how colonizers have constructed visions of African culture; often there is talk of the need to preserve and document it. I think that is important, but it is also necessary to understand that these things are in constant motion. And it is up to us to participate in that movement.”

For the album cover, Gamedze extends the visual aesthetic of his previous release with a handmade illustration. “I feel like my drawings represent the inside of my mind. They are very free and improvisational,” he says. His friend and designer Naadira Patel worked with him on the final cover design, which includes liner notes written by his sister, writer and artist Thuli Gamedze.

Turbulence and Pulse arrives through a collaboration between Chicago label International Anthem and Johannesburg label Mushroom Hour Half Hour, marking the first joint release from both labels.