An artist who "combines the melodicism and spiritual intensity of Pharoah Sanders and Alice Coltrane with an explicit, politically engaged message" (All About Jazz), Idris Ackamoor is a Bay Area musical treasure known around the world as a giant of spiritually charged cosmic jazz. He brings his rousing mix of Afro-funk and searching improvisation to this performance, following up his San Francisco Jazz festival debut in June 2025, joined by the current lineup of his iconic Pyramids ensemble.
For this special pre-Halloween concert event, titled Night of The Exotictress, we encourage people to dress up in your exotic costumes!
A Chicago native, Ackamoor formed The Pyramids as a student at Ohio's Antioch College to be members of pianist Cecil Taylor's early 1970s Black Music Ensemble. The saxophonist's experience with the maverick piano genius and his far-reaching aesthetic informed his own approach, and upon relocating to the Bay Area, released a trio of hugely influential albums with Lalibela (1973), King of Kings (1974), and Birth / Speed / Merging (1976).
After a fracturing of the group and a period of inactivity in the mid 70s, Ackamoor built his arts organization Cultural Odyssey and reformed the band, releasing a succession of adventurous new recordings with The Pyramids for the U.K.'s Strut label including 2023's Afro Futuristic Dreams and his latest, 2025's Artistic Being with his expanded Ankhestra ensemble and guest appearances by actors Danny Glover and Rhodessa Jones.
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For this special pre-Halloween concert event, titled Night of The Exotictress, we encourage people to dress up in your exotic costumes!
A Chicago native, Ackamoor formed The Pyramids as a student at Ohio's Antioch College to be members of pianist Cecil Taylor's early 1970s Black Music Ensemble. The saxophonist's experience with the maverick piano genius and his far-reaching aesthetic informed his own approach, and upon relocating to the Bay Area, released a trio of hugely influential albums with Lalibela (1973), King of Kings (1974), and Birth / Speed / Merging (1976).
After a fracturing of the group and a period of inactivity in the mid 70s, Ackamoor built his arts organization Cultural Odyssey and reformed the band, releasing a succession of adventurous new recordings with The Pyramids for the U.K.'s Strut label including 2023's Afro Futuristic Dreams and his latest, 2025's Artistic Being with his expanded Ankhestra ensemble and guest appearances by actors Danny Glover and Rhodessa Jones.
An artist who "combines the melodicism and spiritual intensity of Pharoah Sanders and Alice Coltrane with an explicit, politically engaged message" (All About Jazz), Idris Ackamoor is a Bay Area musical treasure known around the world as a giant of spiritually charged cosmic jazz. He brings his rousing mix of Afro-funk and searching improvisation to this performance, following up his San Francisco Jazz festival debut in June 2025, joined by the current lineup of his iconic Pyramids ensemble.
For this special pre-Halloween concert event, titled Night of The Exotictress, we encourage people to dress up in your exotic costumes!
A Chicago native, Ackamoor formed The Pyramids as a student at Ohio's Antioch College to be members of pianist Cecil Taylor's early 1970s Black Music Ensemble. The saxophonist's experience with the maverick piano genius and his far-reaching aesthetic informed his own approach, and upon relocating to the Bay Area, released a trio of hugely influential albums with Lalibela (1973), King of Kings (1974), and Birth / Speed / Merging (1976).
After a fracturing of the group and a period of inactivity in the mid 70s, Ackamoor built his arts organization Cultural Odyssey and reformed the band, releasing a succession of adventurous new recordings with The Pyramids for the U.K.'s Strut label including 2023's Afro Futuristic Dreams and his latest, 2025's Artistic Being with his expanded Ankhestra ensemble and guest appearances by actors Danny Glover and Rhodessa Jones.
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For this special pre-Halloween concert event, titled Night of The Exotictress, we encourage people to dress up in your exotic costumes!
A Chicago native, Ackamoor formed The Pyramids as a student at Ohio's Antioch College to be members of pianist Cecil Taylor's early 1970s Black Music Ensemble. The saxophonist's experience with the maverick piano genius and his far-reaching aesthetic informed his own approach, and upon relocating to the Bay Area, released a trio of hugely influential albums with Lalibela (1973), King of Kings (1974), and Birth / Speed / Merging (1976).
After a fracturing of the group and a period of inactivity in the mid 70s, Ackamoor built his arts organization Cultural Odyssey and reformed the band, releasing a succession of adventurous new recordings with The Pyramids for the U.K.'s Strut label including 2023's Afro Futuristic Dreams and his latest, 2025's Artistic Being with his expanded Ankhestra ensemble and guest appearances by actors Danny Glover and Rhodessa Jones.
show less
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