{"title":"Asher Gamedze","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eAsher Gamedze is a jazz drummer hailing from Cape Town, South Africa. With his exceptional talent and passion for music, he has become a prominent figure in the jazz scene. Known for his mesmerizing performances and unique style, Asher captivates audiences with his rhythmic precision and improvisational skills. His deep understanding of the genre allows him to create soulful compositions that resonate with listeners on a profound level. Whether performing live or recording in the studio, Asher's artistry shines through, making him a true force to be reckoned with in the world of jazz.\u003c\/p\u003e","products":[{"product_id":"turbulence-and-pulse-2","title":"Turbulence and Pulse","description":"\u003cp\u003eCape Town, South Africa-based drummer \u003cstrong\u003eAsher Gamedze\u003c\/strong\u003e explores relationships of time between music and history on his new album \u003cem\u003eTurbulence and Pulse\u003c\/em\u003e, out on International Anthem in collaboration with Johannesburg-based label Mushroom Hour Half Hour.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eThough this is Gamedze's first record with International Anthem as a leader, fans of AngelBat Dawids' debut, \u003cem\u003eThe Oracle\u003c\/em\u003e, might recognize his name from their epic first-meeting-turned-song: \"\u003cem\u003eCapetown\u003c\/em\u003e\" or from his drumming on Angel and Tha Brothahoods Live. Close followers of free music may also know Asher from last year's offering on Astral Spirits, \u003cem\u003eOut Side Work\u003c\/em\u003e (which features scorching duets with fellow Brothahood member Xristian Espino: Sun City Girls' Alan Bishop), or from his ZUZU debut album \u003cem\u003eDialectic Soul\u003c\/em\u003e, which was ranked in the New York Times' Top Ten Jazz Albums of the Year.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eTurbulence and Pulse\u003c\/em\u003e comes as a reset and a reintroduction, even while Gamedze is again joined by his core quartet from \u003cem\u003eDialectic Soul\u003c\/em\u003e - South African musicians Thembinkosi Mavimbela (bass), Robin Fassie (trumpet), and Buddy Wells (tenor sax).\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eThe album opener \"\u003cem\u003eTurbulence's Pulse\u003c\/em\u003e\" serves as a manifesto to inform the album that follows: a multi-rhythmic groove exploration of a collection of pieces initially composed by Gamedze on piano. The result is his most soulful and accessible album yet, and a sweet-yet-energetic addition to the South African jazz cannon.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"International Anthem Recording Co","offers":[{"title":"Grey LPx2","offer_id":50416390439243,"sku":"2020269","price":32.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"Black LP","offer_id":50416389587275,"sku":"2016045","price":22.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"CD","offer_id":50416389292363,"sku":"2016044","price":11.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0867\/1120\/6219\/files\/Turbulence_and_Pulse_700abc6b_thumbnail_4096.jpg?v=1726702668"},{"product_id":"dialectic-soul","title":"Dialectic Soul","description":"\u003cp\u003eOn The Corner Records release \u003ci\u003eDialectic Soul,\u003c\/i\u003e the debut album from one of Cape Town's most cuttingedge, visionary artists and musicians, the drummer Asher Gamedze. This is Jazz at its most spiritual, most progressive and most appealing form. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eRecorded live over two days at the Sound and Motion Studios in Cape Town with renowned musicians (Thembinkosi Mavimbela (bass), Buddy Wells (tenor sax), Robin Fassie-Kock (trumpet) Nono Nkoane (voc)), Dialectic Soul is breathtaking in its musical vitality and expression of soul seeking truth. By incorporating the concept of the Total Art for this project, it fits perfectly within On The Corner's aesthetic of music, art and vision for creative innovation. Label art director Victoria Topping created the sleeve design working with Asher's drawings and concept.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eAsher continues: \"My composition \"state of emergence\" introduces the themes that constitute the album; free drums representing autonomous African motion, the saxophone reflecting deeply and honestly on colonialism, the teachings of Coltrane, Steve Biko, Makeba and Malcom X and positive manifestations of resistance.\"\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\"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.\"\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"On The Corner","offers":[{"title":"Black | LP | x2","offer_id":50468381917515,"sku":"1093390","price":21.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"Clear LPx2","offer_id":50468382933323,"sku":"2023123","price":27.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0867\/1120\/6219\/files\/89269bd7-2a8d-4ee5-9c62-c27108c6542a_thumbnail_4096.jpg?v=1727347518"},{"product_id":"a-semblance-of-return","title":"A Semblance: Of Return","description":"\u003ctable width=\"71\" cellspacing=\"0\" cellpadding=\"0\" border=\"0\"\u003e\n\u003ccolgroup\u003e\u003ccol width=\"71\"\u003e\u003c\/colgroup\u003e\n\u003ctbody\u003e\n\u003ctr height=\"20\"\u003e\n\u003ctd width=\"71\" height=\"20\"\u003eA Semblance: Of Return is the new album from South African drummer, composer, and bandleader Asher Gamedze, available on Northern Spy Records as a limited “Emulsive Return” clear smoke 12” LP, and digipak CD.\u003cbr\u003eGamedze gathers a close ensemble of longtime collaborators to explore what he calls “practices of assembly” - ways of making sound, and imagining new and old modes of freedom. Based in the independent music scenes of Cape Town and rooted in Pan-Africanism and Black Consciousness, Of Return extends the political and musical commitments that have defined Gamedze’s work from Dialectic Soul (On The Corner, 2020), to Turbulence and Pulse (International Anthem, 2022) and Constitution (International Anthem, 2024) while opening a newly collective chapter in his practice, this time on Northern Spy.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThe band on the album - Ru Slayen (percussion), Nobuhle Ashanti (keys \u0026amp; synth), Zwide Ndwandwe (bass), and Keegan Steenkamp (trumpet), with Gamedze on drums - formed as a social unit: a group for whom music is part of a broader shared life, full of playing, thinking, laughing, and struggling. That ethos animates the music. Across the album’s two sides, Of Return serves as a gathering place: a living room, a rehearsal, a shady club, a study group, a home. The music moves with a grounded, searching energy, shifting between group vocals, groove-heavy ensemble passages, and moments of stark melodic clarity. The grooves are earthy and lived-in; the improvisations feel like conversations; the lyric fragments echo the project’s probing around notions of return as integral to any forward, future-oriented motion.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eOf Return enacts both return and departure, or more precisely, extension\/elaboration. This it does through a rootedness in the traditions and politics of the Cape underground, and opening a sonic invitation to dream, to struggle together, and, fundamentally, to assemble.\u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003c\/tr\u003e\n\u003c\/tbody\u003e\n\u003c\/table\u003e","brand":"Northern Spy","offers":[{"title":"LP - Clear Smoke","offer_id":55968360628555,"sku":"R4087-1672","price":26.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"CD","offer_id":55968360661323,"sku":"R4087-5842","price":12.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0867\/1120\/6219\/files\/unnamed_38_a3e4e013-dc00-4287-9063-3aa1587fa687.jpg?v=1763989629"}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0867\/1120\/6219\/collections\/test_8080c28e_thumbnail_4096_38fa0042-3aa7-4a46-903b-f6da08364f76.jpg?v=1726702626","url":"https:\/\/shop.roughtrade.com\/collections\/asher-gamedze.oembed","provider":"Rough Trade","version":"1.0","type":"link"}