Name: Don't Drop Dead on Stage with Idris Ackamoor
Start: 2026-02-20T18:00:00-08:00
End: 2026-02-20T20:00:00-08:00
Location: Eternal Now

Don't Drop Dead on Stage with Idris Ackamoor

A performing artist and arts administrator survival guide
About this Event

Friday, February 20th, and welcome for the latest in his seminar series: Don't Drop Dead on Stage.

An extension of his work with the pioneering arts organization Cultural Odyssey, it's a free workshop about how to survive, navigate, and thrive as an independent artist.

Per Idris:

"DON'T DROP DEAD ON STAGE: A PERFORMING ARTIST AND ARTS ADMINISTRATOR SURVIVAL GUIDE is a frank discussion/lecture regarding subjects like global touring, grants, publishing, ARTS ADMINISTRATION, music business, social security, pensions, retirement accounts, health issues, estate planning, and benefit packages in an easy and understandable manner. “Each one teach one” is the motto to guard against “Dropping Dead on Stage” as the audience thunderously applauds!"

In other words: a chance to learn firsthand from a legend who's built a life and enduring career around eccentric, visionary art.

Saturday the 21st, join us live in concert at Eternal Now with a lineup of Bobby Cobb on guitar, Donald Robinson on drums, and longtime Pyramids member Heshima Mark Williams on bass. DJs and join on soundtrack duties.

Full details and tickets for Saturday night's show .

is a composer, bandleader, and artist with deep roots in the Bay Area. The Chicago-born Ackamoor formed The Pyramids — an ensemble combining free improvisation and Afrofuturist cosmology — as a student at Ohio's Antioch College, inspired by his time studying with the avant-garde giant Cecil Taylor.

Relocating to San Francisco in the early '70s, The Pyramids released a trio of spiritual jazz grails, Lalibela, King of Kings, and Earth/Speed/Merging, making a distinct contribution to the pantheon of spiritual jazz.

Later in life, Ackamoor founded , a nonprofit org behind projects spanning dance, performance art, music, and theater. Along with Rhodessa Jones, he serves as Co-Artistic Director, spearheading projects like the African American Theater Alliance for Independence (AATAIN) and collaborations with luminaries like Bill T. Jones and Danny Glover.

In recent years, Idris' legacy in jazz has continued to expand, with reissues of the original Pyramids catalog from Strut Records, four new Pyramids studio albums, and last year's , recorded live at The Lab. 2024 also saw Idris joining Carlos Niño and Nate Mercereau for , and for live dates as part of Andre 3000's New Blue Sun ensemble.

is a book and record shop, archive, and art space rooted in West Oakland. Drawing on the East Bay's varied histories of radical practice, our programming and collection explore the interplay, and tensions, between popular art forms and countercultural currents. You can follow and learn more about us here and support the space by becoming a member via our Patreon.

is a collectively owned and operated arts organization celebrating underrepresented practices, ideas, and people. Founded in Oakland, California, the project provides a container for explorations from the artist Zekarias Thompson, group projects Peaces, The Musele Project, and Togetherness Ensemble. Working Name has produced art exhibitions and happenings at venues including SFMOMA, BAMPFA, YBCA, The Wattis, and The Lab.