Mulatu Astatke & Either/Orchestra - Live at Moers festival 2008

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       Mulatu Astatke is one of Ethiopia's major musicians. In the late 1950s, he travelled to London, and later Boston and New York, absorbing jazz and Latin music, recording several LPs (one of which, Mulatu of Ethiopia, has become a legend among DJs in recent years), and eventually bringing both modern jazz and Latin influences and specific instruments back home to Addis Ababa. On piano, organ, vibes and percussion, with his arrangements and compositions, and as an agent provocateur, he became a pivotal figure in a great era of Ethiopian pop and jazz, from 1968 to 1974. To this day, he remains a ubiquitous presence in the Ethiopian music scene, as club owner, music school founder, radio DJ, composer, arranger and instrumentalist.

       The Either/Orchestra is among the longest running and most important large ensembles in jazz. Since 1985, under the direction of founding saxophonist/composer Russ Gershon, the ten-piece group has traversed the history and stylistic range of jazz to make great music out of unexpected connections between styles and approaches to music. Like the late Art Blakey's Jazz Messengers, the E/O has been a kind of graduate school of jazz, whose alumni include John Medeski, Matt Wilson, Josh Roseman and Miguel Zenon, among dozens of other significant players. 

      In 1997, inspired by the work of Mulatu Astatke among others, the E/O began playing their own arrangements of Ethiopian popular music, which garnered them an appearance at the Ethiopian Music Festival in Addis Ababa in January 2004, the first Americans ever invited. In Addis, the group met Mulatu and invited him to play on their concert, with results that surprised and delighted the audience and critics. Since that time, the E/O and Mulatu have performed together in the UK, Holland, Sweden, Finland, Germany, Canada and the US.

1. Either Orchestra & Mulatu Astatke - I [Soul song]     (10:29)
2. Either Orchestra & Mulatu Astatke - talk               (0:57)

3. Either Orchestra & Mulatu Astatke - II [Yekermo   Sew/Gubelye/YegelleTezeta ]   (20:14)

4. Either Orchestra & Mulatu Astatke - talk               (0:50)
5. Either Orchestra & Mulatu Astatke - III [Yekatit]  (8:32)

6. Either Orchestra & Mulatu Astatke - IV [I Faram Gami I Faram]       (7:05)

7. Either Orchestra & Mulatu Astatke - V [Yezamed Yebaed] (2:00)

Mulatu Astatke & The Ethiopian Quintet - Le allucinazioni LSD Disco psichedelico [1966]

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       Tripped out Italian library LP about the effects of LSD, very rare, strangely has a really good crazy Latin tune mixed with electronic sounds, pretty unique record from an Italian TV show talking about LSD and drugs. 

      The bugaloo jazzy and funky Latin musical background is by Mulatu and the Ethiopian quintet, with psychedelic effects due to drugs.

Invisible System - Punt [Made in Ethiopia] [2009]

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       Invisible System is the pseudonym for the UK & Africa producer Dan Harper whose music is an eclectic fusion of Ethiopian, dub, reggae, techno, trance, drum and bass, jungle, acid, psychedelic, folk, post-punk, goth and rock.

       Traditional vocals & instruments meet the modern, electronic and brass. Recorded in Ethiopia.  Live Europeans meet live Ethiopians! 

       The songs were improvised, from scratch - all instruments and vocals. Improvisation was a largely new concept to most of the Ethiopian counterparts (previously told what or how to play or sing). Dan just went from go with your feelings and express them as Dan had done. The results were stunning both for them and for us. We are not into using Ethiopian (or Malian) samples or trying to quickly learn and imitate Ethiopian musicians who have their sounds, modes, scales, feelings and soul from their culture and country else we would be the neo-colonialists. We are into sharing, learning and exchange over time.

       Dan spent 3 years in Addis Ababa not 3 weeks, living, working and existing there. Aid working all around the country, producing music based in Addis. He Met people from all walks of life. The music is based on real life experience not from reading. It is played from the heart and soul of everyone involved. Their own interpretation thus tapping the ebbs and flows of our lives.

Hear What the Critics Have to Say!

---‘sturdy Ethiopian vocals are matched against backing that veers from wailing psychedelic rock to trance, trip-hop and dub, it's an impressive achievement.’  - The Guardian, Robin Denselow

'New rave goes global. The rave crowd may love such deranged energy.' - Uncut, Nigel Williamson

---‘you can imagine this becoming a mind blowing rave classic, pushing the envelope

 beyond Ethiopqiues nostalgia.’ - MOJO, David Hutchenson

---’there's a pleasing headiness to its rough charm’ - The Independent, Andy Gill

---‘a startlingly original combination of Ethiopian roots and pop with dub, electronica and psychedelic rock’ - fRoots, Jamie Renton

---‘this wonderfully strange and slightly otherworldly album’ refuses resolutely to be pigeon holed. One of the most startlingly original musical adventures of the year giving a whole new meaning to the term ‘fusion music’. - R2 / rock N Reel, Dave Haslam

---‘like an exotic mythology flung into outer space‘ - World Music Network, TJ Nelson

---‘It’s an album that, to its credit, solidly defies easy description.  It needs to be heard several times and each reveals a new delight’ - AllMusic.com, Chris Nickson

---‘Each time you hear the songs, you hear something different as this will be the longevity of this world class fusion CD’ - LAsThePlace.com, Los Angeles

---'I encourage everyone to check it out, but not try to capture it..just feel it.' - Max Benkole Jarrett, BBC World Service

---‘Brings together a fine mix of musicians to create a festive-sounding album recorded in Ethiopia’ – New Internationalist