Idris Ackamoor, Rhodessa Jones, Danny Glover - Artistic Being (2LP) [Strut]

Format: 2x12" in gatefold sleeve.
CAT: STRUT483LP

Tracklist:
A1. AFRO FUTURISTIC DREAMS 13.10
A2. IN GOD’S COUNTRY 4:42
B1. CHINA LANE SUITE 17:36
C1. TEMBEKA 7:50
C2. GRANDMA COLE STORY 10:44
D1. NOW! 8:49
D2. MOONLIGHT AND SUNSHINE 9:41

In honor of fifty years in the performing arts — since founding the legendary band The Pyramids in 1972 — Idris Ackamoor proudly presents Artistic Being for Record Store Day 2025. This special recording features renowned San Francisco actor, activist, and author, Danny Glover, alongside celebrated stage actress Rhodessa Jones.

In February 2024, Ackamoor's performing arts company, Cultural Odyssey, partnered with The Lab, a major San Francisco cultural venue, to co-present the Underground Jazz Cabaret during Black History Month. Ackamoor stated: “Collaborating with Danny Glover and Rhodessa Jones, two of the most admired Artistic Beings, was a profound honor. Their unwavering commitment to ‘art as social activism’ feels more urgent and necessary today than ever before.” The performance brought together new and classic works by Idris Ackamoor and his Ankhestra, including members of The Pyramids. The evening’s music served as a common thread, weaving together a libretto that spanned from the harrowing legacy of the Middle Passage to contemporary meditations and dreams for the future.

Danny Glover and Rhodessa Jones lent their distinctive voices to a series of powerful spoken word musical poems. These included Grandma Cole Story, a poignant indictment of the slave trade narrated from the perspective of a ten-year-old African girl aboard a slave ship, and China Lane Suite, which explores a forbidden romance between a Chinese laundry owner and a freed slave woman during the Reconstruction era. Glover also performed his original work In God’s Country, a heartfelt tribute to his mother. The evening culminated with Ackamoor’s most recent composition, Now!, a striking reflection on the current crises in the Middle East. All texts were accompanied by an evocative score, composed and arranged by Ackamoor himself, and performed by his Ankhestra, now expanded to 14 members.

This performance not only celebrated a milestone in Ackamoor’s illustrious career but also exemplified the transformative power of art to address the most urgent social issues of our time.