Drawing from the soil of time and propelled forward by the waves of history's oceanic flow, South African drummer Asher Gamedze has crafted an album that speaks to his home country's post-colonial aftermath and its continued struggles against neo-liberal imperialism on his debut album Dialectic Soul. My first introduction to Gamedze's spiritually charged, inquisitive and ecumenical style of percussion was on his guest appearance on Angel Bat Dawid's "Capetown" off of her remarkably transcendent 2019 album The Oracle (you can read my review over on Chicago Crowd Surfer here). Dialectic Soul continues in this tradition of collaboration by teaming-up with Thembinkosi Mavimbela on bass, Robin Fassie-Kock on trumpet, tenor saxophonist Buddy Wells, and the smooth, elegant purr of singer Nono Nkoane to reify the critical, creative, and conformational ethos and sounds of the American free and spiritual jazz movements that arose as resistance to racial exclusion at home and the immoral infiltration by the capitalist state in south-east Asia abroad. The opening three tracks, titled in succession, "state of emergency suite.," "thesis," "antithesis," and "synthesis," deal with the incursion of colonialist powers into South Africa, the rising consciousness of the people of that nation and the eventual expulsion of the apartheid state, and the yet to be fulfilled future liberation of the African people from imperialist chains and the ushering in of a new free global society. It is a story told through the interplay of rolling snares, hollering saxophones and brash, subversive trumpet trills, all reminiscent of John Coltrane's highly visual, liberatory compositions and convention twisting, note freeing modes. The tryptic culminates in the breathy and ponderous "siyabulela," an enlightened march of semi-regal grandeur led by dusky-toned ceremonial horns, the hugging sway of Fassie-Kock's bass and the petaly, drift of Nkoane's melodious vocals. A triumphant procession of the human spirit over oppression as the sun rises on a day when all of humankind is bathed in the absolutely light and truth in recognition of their inherent dignity and equality. I have barely scratched the surface here, and there is a lot that Dialectic Soul has to offer the listener who is open to its message. It is an album that will certainly be sticking with me for many years to come.
Grab a copy of Dialectic Soul from On the Cornor Records here.
