South African drummer Asher Gamedze has announced the release of his debut album this summer. Entitled Dialectic Soul, it arrives on July 10th through On The Corner Records. A visionary musician, Gamedze recorded the album live over two days in Cape Town with a stellar cast of musicians, Thembinkosi Mavimbela on bass, Buddy Wells on tenor sax, Robin Fassie-Kock on trumpet and Nono Nkoane on vocals.
Dialectic Soul, as Gamedze remarks, “is about motion and a refusal to remain static or stay still. It’s the commitment to be continually moving”. He adds:
“Fundamentally, it is about the reclamation of the historical imperative. It is about the dialect of the soul and the spirit while it moves through history. The soul is dialectic. Motion is imperative. We keep moving.”
As a mesmerising introduction to the album, Gamedze has shared the opening suite ‘state of emergence’. This composition, he comments, “introduces the themes that constitute the album; free drums representing autonomous African motion, the saxophone reflecting deeply and honestly on the violence of colonialism, the teachings of Coltrane, Biko, Makeba, Malcom and others inspired the music’s positive manifestations of resistance.”
Lend your ears to sublime ‘state of emergence suite’ now, featuring ‘thesis’, ‘antithesis’ and ‘synthesis’. You’ll be rewarded!