Idris Ackamoor and the Pyramids
The Pyramids was founded over fifty years ago in 1972. Saxophonist and composer Idris Ackamoor had originally left his hometown of Chicago to study music at Antioch College in Yellow Springs, Ohio, where his teachers numbered legendary pianist Cecil Taylor. Via the Antioch Abroad Program, Ackamoor landed a year’s study overseas in 1972, which allowed him, and two Antioch students, Margaux Simmons and Kimathi Asante, to travel to Europe and Africa where they co-founded The Pyramids. The trip took in a musical spiritual journey up into Northern Ghana, the land of the Fra Fra of Bolgatanga and the Islam-influenced Dagomba in Tamale, where Ackamoor taped some field recordings. “We played with the King’s musicians in Tamale,” he remembers. “I also undertook a healing ceremony in the bush of Bolgatanga with a Fra Fra traditional healer (a Juju Man).” Back in Yellow Springs, The Pyramids brought together all of the knowledge from their journey and released two independently produced albums including Lalibela (1973), and King Of Kings (1974). After graduating, Idris and the band headed to Oakland, California and quickly met other musicians in the thriving San Francisco Bay Area music scene where they recorded their third album, Birth/Speed/Merging in 1976.
The Band members of Idris Ackamoor and The Pyramids are:
IDRIS ACKAMOOR – Alto and Tenor Saxophone, piano, vocals
MARGAUX SIMMONS – Flutes and vocals
SANDI POINDEXTER – Violins and vocals
BOBBY COBB – Guitar and vocals
MARK WILLIAMS – Bass
RANDALL MERRITT – Drums
SHAKOOR HAKEEM – Congas and percussions
Photo by Jelmer de Haas