Asher Gamedze Quartet
Politically inspired South African jazz
South African drummer Asher Gamedze first made himself heard on Angel Bat Dawid’s The Oracle (2019), which was released on the superb International Anthem label (see too: Alabaster DePlume, Jaimie Branch, Ben LaMar Gay). Gamedze is now housed there too. He absorbed the music of The Art Ensemble of Chicago and John Coltrane and combined it with a keen political awareness. His 2020 debut Dialectic Soul went straight into The New York Times chart of Best Jazz Albums. They also wrote “A debut that augurs more brilliance ahead.”
That brilliance is also to be heard on the successor Turbulence and Pulse. All About Jazz: "’Turbulence And Pulse’ is a magnificent, gutsy, stirring piece of work, authentic to its core." We already categorised Gamedze along with Shabaka Hutchings and Amaro Freitas, who all provide the genre with new and powerful impulses. Wouldn’t you agree?