Various Artists

From the liner notes by compiler JJ Whitefield:
“The first time I listened to Ethiopian music intentionally was in 2001. While mixing the debut album of my band ‘The Whitefield Brothers’ in New York master digger and funk aficionado Philip Lehman played me a tape of Mulatu Astatkes LP called “Mulatu Of Ethiopia”. Originally, this album had been recorded and released in the United States by the Ethiopian fusion pioneer from Addis Abeba in 1972 together with American musicians. The muted sound didn‘t really hit a spot at first. But shortly after, when Mulatu’s very rare albums “Ethio Jazz” and “Modern Ethiopian Instrumentals” were re-published on vinyl in Europe, I fell in love with it. Those recordings had been made in the early 70’s in Addis Abeba together with local musicians and you just couldn’t find them outside of Ethiopia until then. They sounded rough and funky, and they focused on traditional elements of Ethiopian music. I was all captivated by those records and started digging for different rare original singles of Ethiopian musicians such as Mahmoud Ahmed, Alemayehu Eshete, Girma Byene, Menelik Wossenachev and Hirut Bekele. Inspired by the aesthetics of this music I began using Ethiopian pentatonic scales in my own compositions (especially the “Tezeta” scale – a word that could be translated by “gloom”). A typical feature of the Ethiopian modes is their oriental sound. The music of “Swinging Addis” of the 70’s was a clash of opposite elements: western instruments (drums, bass, guitar, horns) and the stylistic influence of Jazz, Soul, R&B and Rock’n’Roll bumping into traditional techniques of singing and composing – a legacy of Ethiopian popular music. Mastermind of this revolutionary mix was Mulatu Astatke. His encounter with Duke Ellington is legendary. They met when the American jazz giant came to Addis Abeba in 1972 and had some of Ethiopia’s music translated to jazz arrangements. “He listened to me excitedly”, remembers Mulatu. Then he said: “Mulatu, I would never have expected to find something like this in Africa.” Jazz and Ethiopian music actually do have much in common – from polyrhythms to special intervals within the scales. The vibraphone and piano player, percussionist and arranger Astatke had graduated in Jazz at the Berklee College of Music and gigged around on the New York club scene pretty steadily for some years before returning to Addis Abeba in the late 60’s. Backpacked with North American Jazz and Funk rhythms he spiced up the nightlife of Addis Abeba and created the basis for Ethio-Jazz. Ethio-Jazz bands recruited a lot of their musicians from the abundant police and army ensembles – a tradition rooted in a decision the Ethiopian Emperor Haile Slassie had made: He had an orchestra from Armenia come to his court, and the conductor of this orchestra composed Ehtiopia’s national hymn and trained musicians for the army, the police and the Imperial Guard. Influenced by American and European music, a bubbly nightclub and party scene developed in the late 60’s in Addis Abeba. “Swinging Addis” had been born.A great diversity of bands and vocalists recorded about 350 singles and some LPs. When communist rebels overthrew Haile Selassie during a coup in 1977,most musicians went into exile and “Swinging Addis” came to a sudden end. This couldn’t dampen the power of Ethio-Jazz, though. An audience of millions has heard Mulatu Astatke’s music in Jim Jarmush’s prized movie “Broken Flowers”. This revival and the success of recently recorded albums boosted Mulatu Astatke’s international career. He now performs in sold out concert halls worldwide. Since Francis Falceto re-published the catalogue of Ethiopian Music, a new audience far beyond the borders of Ethiopia is crazy about this wonderful music. In all western metropolises young musicians are influenced by Ethiopian music and a growing audience is fascinated by these new sounds.This compilation gives an overview of the work of young bands around the world inspired by ethiopean music.”