uKanDanZ ... a unique style, an unusual meeting between an electric quartet and Asnake Guebreyes, charismatic lead singer originates from the vibrant music scene in Addis Abeba.
Their music is inspired by traditional and popular Ethiopian songs. uKanDanZ has a real crunch energy. Between rock, jazz, noise...
With impertinence, they rock it wildly. Without compromise. Guitar, saxophone, bass, drums and vocals shuffle our bearings.
What a pleasure! The stage presence of uKanDanZ swings alternately between energy and emotion... then the public, transcended, dances and shivers.
Feedel Band is a Washington DC based Ethio-Jazz Band and has been performing as a self contained unit, as well as supporting Ethiopian artists like Tilahun Gessesse, (The king of Ethiopian pop music), very recently with Aster Aweke (The queen of Ethiopian soul music) on her current “Ewedihalehu” or "I love you" US tour.
Feedel band’s is founded in 2010 by Araya Woldemichael, and weeks later, his current band members joined him and together they have formed the first native Ethiopian group in north America as an Ethio -jazz music-oriented band that starred Moges Habte on Sax, Alemseged Kebede on Electric bass, Araya Woldemichael on keyboards and Samson Juffar on drums. After Samson Juffar’s departure to Ethiopia, drummer and percussionist Mikias Abebayehu took Samson’s place. In addition to guitarist Kaleb Temesgen and drummer J, Trombonist Ben Hall and krarist Minale Bezu, the band found Its own and a very unique Ethio - jazz sound.
Feedel or (alphabet) are Ge’ez script and a unique Ethiopian characters that are entirely phonetic structured in seven columns. In other words, each character in the Geez Feedel system has seven sounds. Feedel are not only a dazzling of human creativity but also, in practical terms, a powerful medium for communication and social interaction. The power of Feedel resides in the characters ability to represent virtually every sound. The ancient Ethiopians, who invented Ethiopic writing system, were poised, it seems, to capture and harness all sounds in the universe.
Feedel Band - Belhame
Since 1997 the Éthiopiques series has made Ethiopian music a hipster obsession, exposing jazz heads and rockists to the jazzy funkiness that emanated from East Africa in the ’60s and ’70s. (Never heard of the collection? You may have heard songs from Volume 4—there are now 29 volumes in total—in Jim Jarmusch’s 2005 film Broken Flowers.)
Feedel’s sax player Moges who was born in Addis Ababa, and can be heard performing the funky James Brown Band-influenced cut “Muziqawi Silt” on Éthiopiques’ Volume 13 with his ’70s group The Walias Band. On the other hand Feedel's bass player Alemseged Kebede's great groovy bass lines can be found in Aster Aweke and Tilahune Gessesse's music. Feedel Band’s sound can best be described as a merging of ’60s R&B, funk and jazz with traditional Ethiopian songcraft.
Feedel Band - Araya's Mood
Feedel Band is taking Ethiopian music and Jazz, and blending it into a simmering stew of musical genre’s, textures and feeling. These boys have real feel – for their music, for their audience and for each other. Playing with maturity and passion is second nature to all of them ...
Feedel band has devoted much of a creative career spanning almost 20 years to this eternal, inspiring form - the very base and roots of Ethio-jazz.... gather inspiration from The Golden Age of Ethiopian popular music in the late 1960s and 70s— a time that had Addis Ababa littered with groups playing a brass-heavy concoctions influenced by American soul and jazz. So here they are, as enthusiastic as ever - Ethiopian's finest, most skilled practitioners in the art of the Ethiopian music. They take their newly created original pentatonic melodies and repurpose them with mutated instrumentation like 60s and 70s-era Ethiopian grooves: Congas, electric Guitar, Bass, Saxophone, traditional Krar, Masinko, Piano, Organ, Trombone and Drums.
What sets Feedel Band apart from other acts that play Ethio-Jazz style of music is that they commonly hybridize the regular Jazz style with Ethio-Jazz genres, or modernized the sound with out loosing its original traditional texture or feeling. The energy and power is overwhelming. They are creating and in some cases re-creating the musical language of what has been called Ethio -Jazz.
Since the bands inception, the reception that Feedel has received has been extraordinary. At FestAfrica 2011, APAP showcase "Drom" New York City, World cafe live Philadelphia, Global roots festival Minneapolis, MN and most recently at The Kennedy Center in 2014 and the audience was enamored with their warm and engaging style. While their music is inspired by the Golden Age of Ethiopian popular music, but Feedel Band always perform their own original music.
Their newly released CD is called “Ethiopian Ocean”
06 - Arki Sound - Jazeta Love a Dub in Outer Space (5:29)
07 - Arki Sound - Jezeta (6:32)
08 - Arki Sound - Kulun Mankwalesh (5:22)
Formed in New York City in 2009, Arki Sound consists of: Marcus Cummins - alto and soprano saxophones Frank Marino - drum kit Samson Kebede - bass George Taylor - guitar Andy JordanTexas - tenor (emeritus)
Mister Ott is the alter ego of Matt Ottignon, Sydney based Kiwi saxophonist. In particular, Matt has a keen interest and involvement with the very unique sounds of Ethiopian music. It’s that unique mixture of traditional music with jazz and soul from the 50's and 60's that is the inspiration for Mister Ott - music that washes away the dust of everyday life and gives the soul room to breathe.
MISTER OTT - Gonder [composed by Matthew Ottignon]
Live at Venue 505, 15th June 2013
Recorded live on Sep 2nd, 2012, at Sydney's underground Sunday music series at Bohemian Grove.
This was the band's first performance, and features all covers of Ethiopian music. The band name became Mister Ott some time after the artwork was created for this recording.
released 09 February 2012
01 - Mister Ott - Akale Wube (Getatchew Mekuria) (5:32)
02 - Mister Ott - Yekermo Set (Mulatu Astatke) (7:27)
03 - Mister Ott - Ye Woyen Haregitu (Alemayehu Eshete) (6:13)
04 - Mister Ott - Chik Chikka (Mulatu Astatke) (7:22)
05 - Mister Ott - Kulun Mankwalesh (Mulatu Astatke) (3:53)
06 - Mister Ott - Yekatit (Mulatu Astatke) (8:40)
07 - Mister Ott - Eywat Sentenafegagn (Getatchew Mekuria) (5:12)
08 - Mister Ott - Muziqawi Silt (Wallias Band) (5:42)
Matt Ottignon - tenor sax, flute
Ellen Kirkwood - trumpet
Mick Stuart - guitar
Luke Dubber - keys
Eden Ottignon - bass
Dan Kenedy - drums
Engineer - Mick Stuart (on his portable recording rig)
Ethioda (Montpellier) is a group that revisits the Ethiopian jazz through original compositions, improvisations and electro atmospheres. The Ethio-jazz whose golden age is in the 70s (remember Mahmoud Ahmed and his "Ere Mela Mela") leaves reappear east, funk and reggae sounds.
Ethioda - Araray
"Fly to the rhythms, a round and warm, flights of fancy jazz-electro hair-raising ... sudden urge to move your shoulders? No doubt, this is the call of the highlands of Abyssinia, which sounds in music Ethioda! An invitation to travel through an intoxicating music. "
Inspired by the famous recordings "Ethiopiques' 70s, of the Montpellier Ethioda decide to put their two cents in a musical style that goes well beyond the regions of Addis Ababa.
Group compositions and arrangements of traditional songs to the jungle sauce, any excuse is good in these addicts trance to drive the audience into the dance, amid endless crazy solos and grooves!
It was in September 2013 that the group decided to record his first album "Araray."
The Ethiopian word "araray" (Amharic) denotes a range of five notes you play for big festive occasions.
This word alone can evoke the process of Ethioda Group:
take the audience to dance, while offering a very instrumental and improvised music in a festive atmosphere.
Araray is also the name of one of the group's compositions, where the influence of Ethiopian music crosses syncope Jamaican reggae.
Regular followers have probably noticed that the usual Christmas present is late this year, but it does not mean that it will not arrive.
And here it is !
It is only fitting that we end the year with a short overview.This time, it is a compilation of the recent work of the bands whose music is influenced by the Ethiopian sound.
I am not going to bore you a lot. You have come to know most of the authors form this compilation through the posts on my blog, but there is something completely new as well. You will find out for yourself what it is.
I wish you lots of health, happiness and love in the new year. And lots of interesting music, of course.
B.
cd
1
01 - Nadav Haber - Nanu Nanu Jazz (6:13)
02 - Elias Negash - My Eyes Are Hungry (6:55)
03 - New Constellations - Rift Valley (4:51)
04 - Ethioda - Araray (5:09)
05 - Akalé Wubé - Kidus à cent dix (5:17)
06 - Akalé Wubé - Gab's Trap (4:00)
07 - Imperial Tiger Orchestra - Che Belew
(4:02)
08 - Arat Kilo - Ankober Hotel (3:42)
09 - Les Frères Smith - Yègellé Tezeta (My Own
Memory) (4:58)
cd
2
01 - KAZANCHIS +1 - Bilemo Bilee (6:00)
02 - KAZANCHIS +1 - Agerwa Wasa Magana (5:36)
03 - KAZANCHIS +1 - Astawusalehu (5:34)
04 - Feedel Band - Girl from Ethiopia (7:35)
05 - Feedel Band - Arayas Mood (8:24)
06 - Black Flower - Upwards (4:58)
07 - The Shaolin Afronauts - Abyssinian Suite,
Pt. 1 (5:28)
08 - The Shaolin Afronauts - Abyssinian Suite,
Pt. 2 (5:07)
09 - The Shaolin Afronauts - Abyssinian Suite,
Pt. 3 (3:44)
After two albums and a short but well-documented history, Imperial Tiger Orchestra (aka the Tigers) strikes back with a mighty new album, “Wax”, comprising nine killer tracks of tight funk and free-spirited trance wrapped in luscious arrangements. Still inspired by African masters – but not necessarily those you might have thought of – The Tigers have this time delved into the traditional azmari repertoire to uncover astonishing nuggets of synth- and horn-heavy grooviness. Get ready for a journey into the heart of Ethiopia.
When Imperial Tiger Orchestra first started unravelling the yarn of Ethiopian Music from the Golden Age (1969 – 1975), no one expected the thread to be so long and no one knew where it might end.
Inspired by original albums that the band found while shopping for rare musical gems on a first visit to Addis Ababa in 2009, Imperial Tiger Orchestra released a first record in 2010, the aptly-named Addis Abeba, which explored
Ethiopian music from the 70s – when traditional Ethiopian brass bands began feeding off American soul. The second release, Mercato, veered towards a more pop-inspired repertoire from the 80s, and the latest release goes one step further, taking the listener deeper into Ethiopian culture, from the unique sounds of the azmari repertoire to the hypnotic groove of the major tribes.
After three years touring Europe, Imperial Tiger Orchestra has acquired a solid reputation as a mighty groove machine. The band has also taken its acid riffs to the African continent, touring South Africa, Mozambique and Zimbabwe back in 2010. Having been invited to Addis Ababa by the renowned producer of the Ethiopiques series, Francis Falceto, the Tigers were proud to meet many of the local musicians who work to reshape traditional Ethiopian music. Based in and around Geneva, Switzerland, Imperial Tiger Orchestra has also worked with musicians and dancers from the Ethiopian diaspora, receiving their rewarding approval and blessing for their own original take on Ethiopian music.
Wax: 80s synths meet traditional kebero percussions and daring rhythms. Gorgeous horn arrangements enwrap powerful bass lines and saturated electronic beats. All of this in a room where the sun pierces through the walls, where spirits dance and bodies are entranced.
Akalé Wubé (meaning "my beautiful" in Amharic) is a quintet of musicians based in Paris, France who have been inspired to play "Ethio-Jazz" after drawing inspiration the Ethiopiques and other Ethiopian Jazz groups of the "golden age" throughout the sixties and seventies. They simply have taken older tunes to put a more modern contemporary twist by fusing in funk, tango, reggae, pop and other styles of music, already being an aesthetic in Ethiopian music, to help create their own unique sound.
Listening to “Mata”, the second album of Akalé Wubé, is like time travelling to Africa in the 70's. Their music take us to an imaginary musical territory halfway between the ethio-jazz that rocked Addis-Adeba at that time and have fascinated the West since and the Afrobeat from Lagos as conceived by the legendary Fela.
A further listen however makes us realize that it goes much beyond than just recreating the ethio-groove so much in fashion these days and the hypnotic sound of this Parisian band soon puts us in a trance. Integrating elements of soul, reggae, jazz and garage rock, Akalé Wubé sounds like a kind of Azmari Tortoise of Yoruba ancesters. Between reworked versions of classic songs by Alèmayu Esheté, Mulatu Astatqé or Getatchew Mekurya and own compositions, Akalé Wubé have achieved in 2 albums what many cannot do in a decade. They have defined their own style: a mix of refinement, mystery and virtuosity. Come on board Radio Groovalizacion. Next stop Paris-Adeba!
Sketches of Ethiopia is, extraordinarily, the first album Mulatu Astatke, the godfather of Ethio-jazz, has recorded with his own band for an international label of influence. It has been a long time coming and it is a corker.
Astatke, on vibraphone and keyboards, is accompanied by his regular touring band, Step Ahead, which has at its core A-list British jazz musicians—among them, trumpeter Byron Wallen, drummer Tom Skinner,
bassist John Edwards and reed player James Arden. Step Ahead’s 12-piece line-up also includes players of traditional Ethiopian instruments including the masinko (one-string lute), krar (lyre) and washint (bamboo flute).
In addition, there are half a dozen guest musicians, who include rising Malian vocalist Fatoumata Diawara, who sings on the final track.
The album, a mix of originals and arrangements of traditional Ethiopian tunes, is generally hotter and more urgent than you would expect from Astatke’s classic early 1970s recordings. That vibe is revisited on two tracks: “Gumuz,” a traditional melody given a laid back, West Coast jazz-funk arrangement, and Astatke’s “Motherland Abay,” a showcase for the Ethiopian instruments. Elsewhere the album reflects Step Ahead’s up-tempo, dance-friendly live approach. The material is largely through-written and the emphasis is on the ensemble, as always with Astatke: composer/arrangers Duke Ellington and Billy Strayhorn were prominent among his formative jazz influences. Born in 1943, Astatke studied in Britain and the US in the 1960s. He returned to Ethiopia towards the end of the decade, in the dog days of Haile Selassie’s imperial rule. State control of the music business was weakening and a handful of enthusiasts were setting up independent labels which the expiring regime lacked the energy to close down. But the audience for Astatke’s music was small, for Ethiopia had no broad tradition of instrumental music. In 1974 a military junta, the Derg, ousted Selassie and seized power. Under the Derg, Ethiopia’s fledgling music business was suppressed. Internationally, Astatke’s fortunes improved in the late 1990s, when the Paris-based label Buda Musique launched its Ethiopiques reissue series. Volume four, Ethio Jazz & Musique Instrumentale 1969—1974, released in 1998, comprised album tracks and singles recorded by Astatke either under his own name or as arranger/bandleader. People began to pick up on Ethio-jazz, among them US movie director Jim Jarmusch, who featured Astatke’s 1970s recordings prominently on the soundtrack of Broken Flowers (2005). In the film’s wake, Astatke toured and recorded with the Heliocentrics and Either/Orchestra. In 2010, Mochilla released Timeless, recorded in concert in the US with leading local players. Sketches of Ethiopia is essentially Astatke and Step Ahead’s live set performed in the studio by an expanded line-up. It makes the transition with resounding success. Personnel: Step Ahead: Mulatu Astatke: vibraphone, piano, keyboards; Yohanes Afwork: washint; James Arben: flute, oboe, tenor saxophone, clarinet; Messale Asmamow: krar; Richard Olatunde Baker: percussion; John Edwards: double bass, bass; Indris Hassun: masinko; Alexander Hawkins: piano, keyboards; Danny Keane: keyboards, cello; Tom Skinner: drums; Tesfaye: lead vocals (2, 4, 6); Byron Wallen: trumpet. Guests: Fatoumata Diawara: lead vocals (8); Francois Cordas: tenor saxophone (5); Kandia Kora: kora (2, 4, 7); Eric Longsworth: cello (5); Jean-Baptiste Saint-Martin: guitar (2, 5, 6); Francois Verly: percussion (2-8); Memeru: choir leader