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

In February 2024 Ackamoor’s performing arts company, Cultural Odyssey, partnered with The Lab, a prominent San Francisco venue, to co-present "Underground Jazz Cabaret" during Black History Month. Ackamoor expressed: “Collaborating with Danny Glover and Rhodessa Jones, two of the most revered Artistic Beings, was a profound honour. Their unwavering dedication to ‘art as social activism’ feels more urgent and necessary than ever.” The performance brought together new and classic works from Idris Ackamoor and his Ankhestra, including members of The Pyramids. The evening’s score served as a connective thread, weaving together a libretto that spans from the haunting legacy of the Middle Passage to contemporary meditations and dreams for the future.

Both Danny Glover and Rhodessa Jones lent their distinctive voices to a series of powerful spoken-word musical tone poems. Among these were "Grandma Cole Story," a poignant indictment of the slave trade told through the eyes 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 during Reconstruction. Glover also contributed his original work, "In God’s Country," a moving homage to his mother. The evening concluded with Ackamoor’s latest composition, "Now!," a striking reflection on the crises facing the Middle East today. All the narratives were underscored by an evocative score composed and arranged by Ackamoor himself, performed by his newly expanded 14-piece Ankhestra.

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

Tracklist:

Side A
1. SUN INTERLUDE
2. LOVE IN OUTER SPACE
3. THE SHADOW WORLD (excerpt)
4. THE COSMIC EXPLORER

Side B
1..THE COSMIC EXPLORER
2. UNTITLED PIANO SOLO
3.FRIENDLY GALAXY No. 2

Side C
1. WHY GO TO THE MOON? / IT’S AFTER THE END OF THE WORLD
2. SPONTANEOUS SIMPLICITY
3. WATUSI

Side D
1. PERCUSSION INTERLUDE
2. INTERSTELLAR LOW WAYS
3. SOMEWHERE ELSE (9.10)

Side E
1. THEY’LL COME BACK
2. TONE SCIENCE INTERLUDE
3. THE SATELLITES ARE SPINNING
4. SUN RA AND HIS BAND FROM OUTER SPACE
5. CALLING PLANET EARTH
6. IMAGINATION
7. I’LL WAIT FOR YOU
8. WE TRAVEL THE SPACEWAYS

Side F
1. THE WORLD OF LIGHTNING
2. BLACKMYTH
2a.THE SHADOWS TOOK SHAPE
2b.STRANGE WORLDS
2c.JOURNEY THROUGH THE OUTER DARKNESS
3. MYTH TONE POEM (UNTITLED)
4. SKY (2.02)
5. THREE CHEERS FOR RA

Side G
1. PRELUDE
2. THEME OF THE STARGAZERS
3. THE SHADOW WORLD

Side H
1. THE SATELLITES ARE SPINNING
2. SECOND STOP IS JUPITER
3. TONE SCIENCE
4. NEXT STOP MARS

Side I
1. SPONTANEOUS SIMPLICITY
2. FRIENDLY GALAXY No. 2

Side J
1. PLEASANT TWILIGHT
2. OUTER SPACEWAYS INCORPORATED / YOU BETTER GET READY

Side K
1. ENLIGHTMENT
2. CALLING PLANET EARTH
3. SPACE BOP (UNTITLED)
4. SPACE BALLAD (UNTITLED)
5. SUN RA AND HIS BAND FROM OUTER SPACE / THEME OF THE STARGAZERS / WE’LL WAIT FOR YOU

Side L
1. SOMEBODY ELSE’S IDEA / WALKING ON THE MOON / IT’S AFTER THE END OF THE WORLD
2. WE TRAVEL THESPACEWAYS
3. TONE SCIENCE INTERLUDE
4. DAYS OF WINE AND ROSES
5. THE SATELLITES ARE SPINNING