Tracklist:

ሰዎች፡ምን፡ይላሉ። (Sèwotch men yelalu) • ጩኽቴን፡ብትሰሙ። (Tchuéten Betsèmu) • ላንቺ፡ብዬ። (Lantchi Biyé) • እንዴ፡ ኢየሩሳሌም። (Endé Iyérusalem) • ገላ ገላ (Gela Gela) • ባሰል እስከ ብራሰል / ውቢት / ባሰል እስከ ብራሰል (Ambassel to Brussel 1 / Wubit / Ambassel to Brussel 2)

Spotify ♪ Bandcamp

Negarit Band - Origins - an Ethio-jazz band that is actually from Ethiopia, with some heavy rock guitar in the mix

For several years, Negarit has established itself as the leading orchestra of the Ethiopian instrumental scene, choosing to perform regularly at the Fendika, underground and popular lair, hyperactive and mutating melting pot, rather than in the conventional clubs of the nice neighborhoods - which today tend to transform into shishabt (shisha bars). The Negarit band is hanging in there, and in its turn forging a delicate path in these times of global epidemic and unacknowledged civil war.

Alèmayehu Eshété: Telantena zare

Very nice Album, containing Ethio-Jazz (Ethio-Futurism), Nu Jazz, Spiritual Jazz and wonderful deep Ambient Drone.

Dragonchild

Meditation (Reprise)

Above All From Dragonchild - Dragonchild (FPE, 2023)

RAIDERS OF THE LOST ART (Ep. 39) “ALL VINYL - ALL CITY” - MOK GROOVE

Black Flower – Magma

Black Flower – Magma

Belgium, 2022, Ethio-jazz “Inspired by Mulatu Astatke, Fela Kuti and varied western musical traditions”… yes, that much is clear. This album is lovely, easy to listen to, groovy, and a wellspring of expression. And as if the rest of the album wasn’t already good enough, Meskerem Mees lends her beautiful jazz vocals to one of the tracks.

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A cool history lesson in Ethiopian Jazz.

357: Hailu Mergia & Dahlak Band // Wede Harer Guzo

Wede Harer Guzo Hailu Mergia & Dahlak Band 1970s, Ms Recording (Bandcamp)

I can’t 100% recall, but I’m pretty sure this was the first African record I ever bought (it was this or Nass El Ghiwane), and I wasn’t the only one—I’ve got a few friends with exactly one African record in their collection, and it’s this. When his music was rediscovered in 2016 after Awesome Tapes From Africa pressed this record (using Mergia’s own cassette copy as a source), Wede Harer Guzo became for western music nerds a part of that small company of gateway albums to the music of an entire continent. Let’s play a game of Remember Some Guys.

Remember Some Guys: That One African Record Edition

Expensive Shit Who is William Onyeabor? Wede Harer Guzo Nigeria 70 (The Definitive Story of 1970’s Funky Lagos) A dollar bin Miriam Makeba LP uh TEN$ION Remain in Light (honorary)

God I’m tired. Anyway, I’ve always had kind of an uncertain relationship with this record. Mergia’s organ can sound like a cool balm on my aching brain or… elevator music. Dahlak Band can sound like a perfect fusion of the floaty “intellectual highlife” of Celestine Ukwu and the grooves of Booker T. and the MG’s… or, what were we talking about? An entire side just past me by unnoticed, yet again. I think this has more to do with me than it does with the record… though at a cassette-length hour-plus run time, some ideas do get repeated.

(Three ellipses in one paragraph… I think that’s more than I’ve used in this whole series so far. I’m so tired of writing these things man. I’m not even really divorced, I can’t wait to leave.)

Anyway, again, at its best, the record is transcendently beautiful. The way Mergia’s organ expands and contracts like the shimmer of light on dark water on “Anchin Kfu Ayinkash,” guitarist Dawit Kassa answering his pauses with little soulful licks… there the ellipses go again. Sometimes the record feels like it’s insinuating I should go to the lobby for more popcorn. Maybe I’ll buy Raisinettes?

It’s very good I’m saying, obviously. See you tomorrow.

357/365

Tezeta - Mulatu Astatke

Hailu Mergia - Lala Belu

(2018, full album)

[Ethio-Jazz, Tizita]

Ukandanz - Kemekem ከመከም

Ukandanz is back with “Kemekem”, a few months after the release of an instrumental album. The combo finds its voice back with the iconic singer Asnake Gebreyes, still gushing on millennial energies from his native Ethiopa. Combining Ethiopian musical tradition with a contemporary and libertarian reinterpretation, Ukandanz continues its work of public utility with this new opus. With as much subtlety as savagery, the band offers a new version of the Ethiopian crunch whose it is an inestimable pioneer. The fundamental polyrhythms explode on contact with progressive rock, punk music and sound experiments of this pack tightened by years of live music. New instrumental textures stay printed from the last album recorded without Asnake Gebreyes. His come-back raises the temperature a bit more… He is an incandescent prophet of a powerful and unbridled celebration! © Amaury Rullière Asnake Gebreyes : lead vocal Damien Cluzel : bass Lionel Martin : sax Thomas Pierre : drums Fred Escofier : keyboards

Listen/purchase: Yèkèrmo Sèw by Mulatu Astatke