TURBULENCE & PULSE by ASHER GAMEDZE

Cape Town, South Africa-based drummer Asher Gamedze explores relationships of time between music and history on his new album Turbulence and Pulse, out on International Anthem in collaboration with Johannesburg-based label Mushroom Hour Half Hour.

For Gamedze, the underlying message of Turbulence and Pulse is “to claim a form of historical agency and realize that the future is not a foregone conclusion. As people we can organize, to transform our world in small and big ways.” This concept comes out of Gamedze’s involvement in radical cultural work and political organizing.

Though this is Gamedze's first record with International Anthem as a leader, fans of Angel Bat Dawid's debut, The Oracle, might recognize his name from their epic first-meeting-turned-song: "Capetown" or from his drumming on Angel & Tha Brothahood's LIVE. Close followers of free music may also know Asher Gamedze from last year’s offering on Astral Spirits, Out Side Work (which features scorching duets with fellow Brotherhood member Xristian Espinoza and Sun City Girls’ Alan Bishop), or from his 2020 debut album Dialectic Soul, which was ranked in the New York Times’ Top Ten Jazz Albums of the Year.

Turbulence and Pulse comes as a reset and a reintroduction, even while Gamedze is again joined by his core quartet from Dialectic Soul - South African musicians Thembinkosi Mavimbela (bass), Robin Fassie (trumpet), and Buddy Wells (tenor sax).

The album opener “Turbulence’s Pulse” 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 canon.