Sign up for our newsletters Subscribe
"Gamo" is one of several songs featuring the gruff singing of Tesfaye, but the sweet-toned kora licks of Kandia Kora lend it a pan-African air. "Hager Fiker," which is a traditional tune from Astatke's homeland, gets a heavy jazz treatment, with a deep upright-bass groove from Edwards, percolating hand percussion, and a lyric, halting vibe solo from the leader, as well as dueling improvisations between James Arben on flute and Yohanes Afwork on end-blown wood instrument the washint, regularly prodded by sleek, swerving horn arrangements. You can check it out below.
"Gambella," another song with Tesfaye, pushes toward a spiritual jazz vibe, while "Assosa Derache" is decidedly moody and subdued, reaching toward a brief post-Miles Davis spaciness in its final minutes before resuming a head-nodding groove. (I don't think the album title's closeness to the Davis/Gil Evans collaboration Sketches of Spain is accidental.) The album stumbles on "Gumuz," which gives a glossy contemporary treatment to another traditional pieces from the titular Ethiopian tribe—the treacly electric keyboards and the George Benson-styled guitar interjections of guest Jean-Baptiste Saint-Martin sap all the life out of the performance. The limpid cello that opens "Motherland Abay" amid cascading piano, oboe, and kora gives the piece an almost Chinese-sounding serenity (partly due to the pentatonic scale), but then a soulful bass ostinato opens up and Wallen takes a lovely Harmon-muted solo to clearly summon the spirit of Davis. The album closes with a collaboration with the great Malian singer Fatoumata Diawara, and her presence—she cowrote the song "Surma" with Astatke—pulls the song toward West Africa.
Today's playlist:
Rildo Hora e o Clube Dos 7, Samba Made in Brazil (Copacabana/EMI, Brazil)
Louis Smith, Here Comes Louis Smith (Blue Note)
Bobby Valentin, In Motion (Fania)
MJT+3, Make Everybody Happy (Vee-Jay/Collectables)
Hans Werner Henze, In Lieblicher Bläue—Music für Ensemble (Wergo)
Comments