Asher Gamedze – Dialectic Soul 2LP On the Corner Records (UK)

Clear vinyl. Sold out release from 2020, Asher Gamedze‘s Dialectic Soul finally returns as a limited-edition clear vinyl press ahead of On The Corner’s tenth anniversary. Dialectic Soul is the debut album from one of Cape Town’s most cutting-edge, visionary artists and musicians, the drummer, Asher Gamedze. This is Jazz at its most spiritual, most progressive and most appealing form. As Asher himself says: “Dialectic Soul is about motion and a refusal to remain static or stay still. It’s the commitment to be continually moving.” Recorded 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. Asher 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 the violence of colonialism, the teachings of Coltrane, Steve Biko, Makeba, and Malcolm X and others inspired the music’s positive manifestations of resistance. 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.” Gamedze is best known for his work with Angel Bat Dawit on International Anthem.