Lalibela

by The Pyramids

Lalibela cover art
  • Type: Album
  • Released: 1973
  • Label: Pyramid
  • Country: United States
  • Length: 32:30
  • Community rating: 4.08/5 from 5 ratings

Artists on this release: Heshima Mark Williams, Idris Ackamoor, Bradie Speller, Margo Ackamoor

Album Notes & Community Reviews

The debut album from the influential Afro-centric spiritual jazz collective, The Pyramids. Recorded after the band's formative journey through Africa, 'Lalibela' is a deep and hypnotic exploration of African rhythms, group chants, and free improvisation. It's a key document of the independent Black Arts Movement on the West Coast, a powerful statement of cultural identity and spiritual exploration that blends the cosmic jazz of Sun Ra with a raw, earthy, and ritualistic energy.

Genres

Descriptors: ensemble, improvisation, ritualistic, percussive, powerful

Tracklist

  1. Lalibela (10:30)
  2. Indigo (4:15)
  3. Ya A Ya A (3:45)
  4. She Who Hears (6:00)
  5. Mesopotamia (8:00)

Credits

  • The Pyramids - primary artist
  • Idris Ackamoor - alto saxophone, soprano saxophone, balafon, percussion [masenqo], talking drum, drum [moroccan clay drum], written-by
  • Kwame Kimathi Asante - bass [hagstrom bass], harp [ugandan], drum [ethiopian], flute [bamboo]
  • Hekaptah - congas, drum [osi], percussion
  • Marcel Lytle - drums, percussion
  • Margo Ackamoor - flute, piccolo flute, percussion, written-by
  • Leonard L. White - photography by
  • Duane Schumacher - recorded by
  • Masai - soprano saxophone, flute [bamboo], percussion
  • Kwame Asante - written-by

More from The Pyramids: full discography