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Showing posts with label afrobeat. Show all posts
Showing posts with label afrobeat. Show all posts

Friday, November 3, 2017

AddisAbabaBand - AddisAbabaBand [2015] [den]











       AddisAbabaBand is Danish 13 member ethio fusion jazz band from Aarhus, Denmark playing music inspired from afrobeat, funk and jazz.
The band was formed in 2010.






AddisAbabaBand - Zion



             AddisAbabaBand is as exotic as afrobeat from Aarhus, where the 12-13 man band (they are obviously even in doubt) mixes everything from African rhythms of free jazz and psychedelic rock to funk. It might be a half-pale game, but the Aaroans will happily kick a lot of life and variation into the 10 tracks of the album.

      Just the variation is the key to some of the success here, because one must be uncommonly demanding if you get bored or dozens under the 10 tracks AddisAbabaBand delivers on this debut album. 9 of the numbers are their own compositions, and then there has been room for a single cover number in the form of Girma Bèyènès afrobeat classic "Musiqawi".











        And if you think hm hmmm, oh well, yes, yes. I do not know that. Do not worry, I'm in as unexplored territory as you like! My knowledge, and also interest in, afrobeat and the like, confines myself to random meetings at the Roskilde Festival (where I have always been well entertained) and so I know there is someone called "Kuti". And "Ebo Taylor". Fortunately, they mention AddisAbabaBand as inspirational sources in the press so I do not have to feel like the whiteest ignorant man on the musical savannah.


        What is the result of that? Certainly a kind of cultural disability, where I'm only available to hear more "western" music. So besides, I also hear some old school hip hop. Hmm ... okay, my defense is a little thin. Perhaps I just did not find or take the time to put myself in the afrobe, partly because of a massive jazz scare that has plagued me for decades, but now under control.











       In short, I'm on a small bar bottom, just like the rest of the editors, and do not have the big comparison or reference points that can be pulled out of the toolbox to judge what AddisAbabaBand has captured on the record here. But then we have to go a little differently to work and cautiously feel a little bit - at risk of judging the cases a bit wrong. Itcould be both an advantage and a relief for the band.

      Now, with these reservations, I think I really like AddisAbabaBand's deal with the debut. It fluctuates, it is quite sharp, without the feeling of spontaneity and improvisation that I imagine is a fairly large part of the "genre", lost and, in particular, it is well-played. At no time do I think that it's 12-13 Aaronians who take me on an afrobeat excursion, not that music should be thought of in the suit of the practitioner's skin, but there's hardly any worse than an unfunky white man, who thinks he has rhythmic sense.

    The numbers are mostly instrumental, which would normally also be a challenge to me, but as mentioned, the plate slides very smoothly and unproblematically, or should you say dances? So the absence of a vowel does not become a brake pad for me. When it finally appears on the album's 6th song, "Skyrim" feat. MhukayesangTarharka J., it gives just a nice spit and extra spice to the already tasty musical dish.












   In court you will find everything from songs with a dance-friendly smearing spy movie's feel like "White Man", the more fast-paced, frugal sounding and exciting "Pizzaro", smoked night stamp on 
"Piakågerenout" with a deep blow to the mess that you can hear spit freaks. On a song like "Illuminati", the dance-friendly rhythms become more sweaty and warm, while "Jojpe" has some 70's ghetto swag blacksploitation soundtrack over.Most "African" will probably be on "Zion" where, due to the lack of better words, jungle rhythms are almost in it, while "Musiqawi" delivers the most hypnotic moment of the record with insistent rhythms and, eventually, humming cows.


    The common denominator of the 10 numbers is that everything is pretty trimmed and greasy fried away. The playing time never feels blown up, despite the fact that the music is never overloaded or too complicated, the soundtrack is in spite of being unlucky or unstructured.


     I'm still struggling emotionally to relate to the tones and thus get completely absorbed by them, but if you feel like me, I think that AddisAbabaBand could work like a really nice, fairly easily accessible, but still not for the easy leg, introduction to the afrobeate.

Say goodbye to a dozen Aarhusians!


   Ken Damgaard Thomsen   





AddisAbabaBand - 01 - Jojpe (4:47)
AddisAbabaBand - 02 - White Man (3:43)
AddisAbabaBand - 03 - Illuminati (3:10)
AddisAbabaBand - 04 - Musiqawi (5:49)
AddisAbabaBand - 05 - Zion (4:04)
AddisAbabaBand - 06 - Skyrim feat. Mhukayesango Tarharka J. (4:26)
AddisAbabaBand - 07 - Pizzaro (5:13)
AddisAbabaBand - 08 - Piakagerenout (4:38)
AddisAbabaBand - 09 - Meter (2:25)
AddisAbabaBand - 10 - Pangea (4:13)






Alto Saxophone, Baritone Saxophone – Lasse Enøe
Bass, Percussion – Jens Peter Møller
Drums – Martin Aagaard Jensen
Guitar – Jesper Rasmussen, Mikkel Govertz
Keyboards – Simon Gorm Eskildsen
Percussion – Feike Van Der Woude, Martin "Muskel" Madsen
Tenor Saxophone – Olaf Brinch
Tenor Saxophone, Flute – Marco Dania
Trombone – Christian Tscherning Larsen
Trumpet – Jakob Sørensen
Violin, Vocals, Percussion – Preben Kaels
Vocals, Mbira – Jimmy Mhukayesango Tarharka





Friday, April 28, 2017

Ethioda - Tezet Reset [2016] [fra+eth]











            Ethioda is an amazing music band from Montpellier in the south of France. 

        This crew will rock your body and soul with ethiopian scales inspired vibrations wittyly mixed up with Afrobeat, Funk, Jazz, and good mood







Ethioda (feat. Macsinge) - Azmari





Ethioda - 01 - Ambassel Groove (4:14)
Ethioda - 02 - (Satie a dit ça) Beba (6:04)
Ethioda - 03 - Pentatiopik (4:59)
Ethioda - 04 - Azmari (4:23)
Ethioda - 05 - Echi (2:46)
Ethioda - 06 - Taaba (7:26)
Ethioda - 07 - Respecto (5:03)
Ethioda - 08 - Reset Tezet (1:47)
Ethioda - 09 - Tezet Reset (6:29)
Ethioda - 10 - Ethiodawa (6:25)
Ethioda - 11 - Opale (6:54)






Daniel Moreau (keyboards & composition) 
Baptiste Clerc (guitar & composition) 
Armel Courrée (saxophones & composition) 
Pascal Bouvier (trombone) 
Romain Delorme (bass, ms20) 
Julien Grégoire (drums) 
Eric Durand (percussions) 
Muyiwa Kunudji (trumpet) 
Maore (voice) 
Macsinge (voice) 



Monday, April 10, 2017

Addis Black Mamba - Addis Black Mamba [fra+eth]












        For the next two years sextet Addis Black Mamba has been (re) experiencing ethio-jazz by exploring a melancholic, energetic and singular sound universe tinged with afrobeat, blues, funk, psyche rock and free -jazz. 

        With a repertoire mixing ethical classics from the 60s to 70s with current nuggets of unknown groups, as well as his ethno-groove cinematic compositions, Addis Black Mamba knows, like a snake charmer, bewitching his audience. His arrangements with haunting rhythms and hypnotic melodies lead undoubtedly all the lovers of groove for a unique sonic journey from one coast to the other of Africa. 

          Warning: the bite is incurable ...










Nico Barnier - Tenor and baritone sax
Tom Blon - Bass
Cyril Decubber - Percussions
David Mimey - Tenor and alto sax
Agnès Rakovec - Flute
Benoît Roudel - Guitar
Olivier Trénel - Trumpet
Romain Viader - Drums










Addis Black Mamba - 2 - Guragigna (3:59)
Addis Black Mamba - 3 - Yekatit (4:22)
Addis Black Mamba - 4 - Marz (5:17)
Addis Black Mamba - 5 - Miyazia (4:20)
Addis Black Mamba - 6 - Ethiopino (5:24)
Addis Black Mamba - 7 - Followed Path (4:20)
Addis Black Mamba - 8 - Lale Lale (4:17)
Addis Black Mamba - 9 - Le Petit (4:41)





Friday, May 13, 2016

Afro-Zen Allstars - Live @ WRIR!!! [2015] [usa+eth]










                 Afro-Zen Allstars' primary inspiration is the the haunting and danceable sounds created during Ethiopia's "Golden Age" (late '60's-mid '70's). This is music that takes hold of both mind and body and never let's go, and Afro-Zen Allstars present it in updated form with compelling new arrangements and world-class soloists.

            Established by guitarist/arranger George M Lowe, Afro-Zen Allstars features the formidable talents of past and present members of such luminary Richmond ensembles as Bio Ritmo,   No BS Brass!, Rattlemouth, Fado Nosso, Glows In The Dark, Hotel X, Monk's Playground, The Flavor Project, Ululating Mummies, and more. 





Afro-Zen Allstars - Bemin Sebeb Litlash






CJ Alicea, drums
Adrien Bayo, percussion
Brian Cruse, bass
John Lilley, alto and tenor sax
George M Lowe, founder, guitar and arrangements
Chris Sclafani, baritone and alto sax
Chris Vasi, guitar
Toby Whitaker, trombone



Afro-Zen Allstars - 01 - Yekermo Sew (6:00)
Afro-Zen Allstars - 02 - Lemon (Lomiwen Teqebeletch) (4:53)
Afro-Zen Allstars - 03 - Netsanet (6:27)
Afro-Zen Allstars - 04 - The Pillar of Truth (Yewnet Messosso) (5:00)
Afro-Zen Allstars - 05 - Muziqawi Silt (6:27)
Afro-Zen Allstars - 06 - Here Is Freedom (4:57)
Afro-Zen Allstars - 07 - Yekatit (4:21)



Tuesday, October 6, 2015

Black Flower - Abyssinia Afterlife [2014] [b]








      Born out of a surreal experience and with strong devotion Black Flower takes you on a lucid voyage through the gardens of the Abyssinian afterlife. A highly remarkable place, far away from what you and I would call reality. It is a place where strange creatures and unfamiliar sounds merge into a harmony of the weird and the beautiful.

       It is said that these are the secret realms of the long past legendary ruler of Ethiopia, Sir Prester John. Some even claim that he composed these sounds as a way of ruling his ancient land. Whether this is fact or myth, nobody knows for sure...

     Now, for the first time, we have the chance to get a glimpse of this mystical empire. It is no secret any more that Nathan Daems has been chosen to witness this special place. Being such an overwhelming experience, he felt the urge, even the obligation, to share this with the real world. The result is a record he applicably called “Abyssinia Afterlife”.

     It was no easy task finding the right people for this job. In his years of musical exploration, Nathan kept searching for the right people to team up with. A challenging process, because they needed to embrace the idea of looking to music from a whole new perspective. They needed to be able to capture the Abyssinia Afterlife as if they had visited it them-selves. Finally he found four young and dedicated spirits who could do the job.

 This is the moment Black Flower was born.




  Black Flower - Upwards  



 Track list:


    1. Solar Eclipse 6:39 
    2. Upwards 4:59 
    3. I threw a lemon at that girl 5:20 
    4. Jungle desert 4:50 
    5. Winter 5:35 
    6. Star fishing 5:42 
    7. The legacy of Prester John 3:41 
    8. Again I lost it 4:57 
    9. Abyssinia afterlife 7:45





 Nathan Daems - Soprano saxophone, Tenor saxophone, Melodica, Flute 
 Jon Birdsong - Cornet 
 Simon Segers - Drums 
 Wouter Haest - Piano and keyboards 
 Filip Vandebril - Bass, Effects 




 [http://www.dewerfrecords.be/en/catalog/abyssinia-afterlife][http://www.jazzinbelgium.com/album/black.flower_abyssinia-afterlife]
 [http://www.discogs.com/master/view/681766]