The Pyramids -

The Pyramids are an American spiritual-jazz ensemble from Yellow Springs, Ohio, that released the 1973–76 albums Lalibela, King of Kings, and Birth / Speed / Merging on the self-operated Pyramid Records. They reactivated in the 2010s for a further round of titles on Cultural Odyssey, Strut, and Philophon.

Members: Idris Ackamoor [Bruce Baker] (saxophone), Margo Simmons (flute), Kimathi Asante (bass, harp, percussion), Bradie Speller (percussion), Mark “Heshima” Williams (bass), Kenneth Nash (vocals), Donald Robinson (bongos, drums, percussion), Kash Killion (cello)

Background

The Pyramids formed in 1972 through the Antioch College education-abroad program when saxophonist Idris Ackamoor, flutist Margaux Simmons, and bassist Kimathi Asante left Yellow Springs, Ohio, to establish a group in Europe.

Ackamoor, born Bruce Baker in Chicago, studied saxophone with Clifford King and Charles Tyler, then majored in music at Antioch, where Simmons enrolled as a flutist. Asante, born Thomas Williams, played guitar and bass with groups in his native Springfield, Ohio, prior to his enrollment at Antioch.

In 1971, Ackamoor and Simmons formed the Collective with Antioch music professor Lester Knibbs. Asante subsequently joined the group, which merged with the Black Music Ensemble, conducted by free-jazz bandleader and Antioch professor Cecil Taylor, who taught courses on Black music history and African musical traditions.

Ackamoor proposed an overseas program of a French-based ensemble steeped in African music traditions. Antioch approved the 1972–73 proposal with a six-week French course at the University of Besançon, where the trio played their first European engagement. The three students drew the Pyramids name from the triangular placement of their Besançon dormitories. They briefly operated as a quartet with Amsterdam drummer Donald Robinson.

In December 1972, the Pyramids trio embarked on a nine-month African sojourn that covered Morocco, Senegal, Ghana, Uganda, Kenya, and Ethiopia. The musicians played with local performers, collected instruments, and made field recordings of ceremonial music, including the royal drummers of Tamale in northern Ghana. Ackamoor and Simmons closed the trip with a visit to the rock-hewn churches at Lalibela in Ethiopia.

The Pyramids returned to Yellow Springs in 1973 and expanded with percussionist Bradie Speller, drummer Marcel Lytle, and soprano saxophonist Tony Owens, who used the name Masai. Speller played beforehand in Taylor’s Black Music Ensemble, while Lytle was the son of vibraphonist Johnny Lytle. The expanded group played Antioch dates and opened for Weather Report in Dayton and Cincinnati. The Pyramids booked Schumacher’s Studios in Yellow Springs in July 1973 to cut debut album Lalibela.

Discography: