{"product_id":"asher-gamedze-and-the-black-lungs-constitution","title":"Asher Gamedze \u0026 The Black Lungs - Constitution","description":"\u003cdiv class=\"tralbumData tralbum-about\"\u003e\n\u003cmeta charset=\"utf-8\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"tralbumData tralbum-about\"\u003e“Members of the dispossessed, won’t you lend me your ears!”\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThis is the repeated call and the rallying chorus of the nearly 40-minute centerpiece to composer and percussionist Asher Gamedze’s new album Constitution. The expansive double album, a minoritarian fellowship in breath, is Gamedze’s follow-up to 2023’s Turbulence and Pulse (IARC0057\/M3H013), and his first with The Black Lungs, a ten-piece ensemble. The album – recorded in one day at Cape Town’s Sound and Motion Studios – is an elaboration of the possibilities of autonomous constitution in and through polyrhythmic, modal, large ensemble music.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eGamedze holds down duties on the drum kit, joining with Ru Slayen (percussion), Sean Sanby (bass), and Nobuhle Ashanti (piano) breathing together to cohere in what would otherwise be called a rhythm section. The ensemble is expanded by more breath - horns and voices. Tumi Pheko (cornet), Garth Erasmus (alto saxophone), Jed Petersen (tenor saxophone), Tina Mene (vocals), Athi Ngcaba (trombone) and Fred Moten (words) collectively explore and deconstruct the conceptual, tonal and atonal possibilities of themes which are at once of old and new dreams - curious and instantiative, melancholic and\u003cspan class=\"bcTruncateMore\"\u003e\u003cspan\u003e \u003c\/span\u003eemergent.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eAs Moten puts it, “this polyrhythmic but also always polyphonic critical joining – this re-assemblage of ensemble, this loving violation – lets the nightmares of individuation all unravel.” The Black Lungs join a tradition of sound, struggle and thought that is constituted by this very process of unraveling the isolating questions of isolated philosophers: “Is Socrates happy?”; “Does the dialectician have a sound?” On Constitution, the power of the question, the possibility of an improvised answer and the celebration of being together exists not in the solo but in the group, the ensemble.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThis is a theme present not just throughout Constitution, but in all of Gamedze’s work. “The ensemble experience of study and struggle is the basis of my thought and everything I try to do in this mad world,” he says in the album’s liner notes. Further situating the sound and the impulse of the ensemble within the multitudinous terrains of the historical and ongoing struggles of the dispossessed, he explains that “The Black Lungs is inspired by the revolutionary thought and practice of the Black Consciousness Movement. In particular, the relationship between antagonism – constituting a united front of all the oppressed against white supremacy and racial capitalism – and the possibilities for resistance and elaboration - the creative militant capacities of those assembled – enabled and unleashed by that process of constitution.”\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan\u003e \u003ca\u003e\u003c\/a\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003ch3 class=\"credits-label\"\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"tralbumData tralbum-credits\"\u003ereleased August 30, 2024\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eTumi Pheko – cornet\u003cbr\u003eGarth Erasmus – alto saxophone\u003cbr\u003eJed Petersen – tenor saxophone\u003cbr\u003eRu Slayen – percussion\u003cbr\u003eAthi Ngcaba – trombone\u003cbr\u003eTina Mene – vocals\u003cbr\u003eFred Moten – words\u003cbr\u003eNobuhle Ashanti – piano\u003cbr\u003eSean Sanby – bass\u003cbr\u003eAsher Gamedze – drums\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eAll compositions, concepts and arrangements by: Asher Gamedze\u003cbr\u003eWords by: Fred Moten\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eCover and insert artwork by: Leila Khan (Kanaladorp Press)\u003cbr\u003eLayout by: Craig Hansen\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eRecorded by: Carl Roberts and Finn Esterhuizen at Sound and Motions Studios, Cape Town, 15 June 2023\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eProduced by: Asher Gamedze\u003cbr\u003eMixed by: Carl Roberts\u003cbr\u003eMastered by: David Allen\u003cbr\u003eA\u0026amp;R by: Scott McNiece\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003ch3 class=\"license-label\"\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cdiv id=\"license\" class=\"info license\"\u003e\n\u003cspan class=\"cc-icons commercial\"\u003e\u003c\/span\u003eall rights reserved\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"International Anthem","offers":[{"title":"IARC0084 Classic Black Gatefold 2xLP","offer_id":50238219387154,"sku":"IARC0084LP","price":26.95,"currency_code":"EUR","in_stock":true},{"title":"IARC0084 CD - Compact Disc","offer_id":52120910004498,"sku":"IARC0084CD","price":13.95,"currency_code":"EUR","in_stock":true},{"title":"IARC0084 Digital Download","offer_id":52120999133458,"sku":"IARC0084","price":7.95,"currency_code":"EUR","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0751\/6989\/0578\/files\/a2170149126_10.jpg?v=1773342501","url":"https:\/\/shop.intlanthem.com\/products\/asher-gamedze-and-the-black-lungs-constitution","provider":"International Anthem (US)","version":"1.0","type":"link"}