March 18, 19Washington DC, with Mulatu Astatke, venue TBA
― steve-k, Thursday, 3 March 2005 20:39 (nineteen years ago) link
― peepee (peepee), Friday, 16 September 2005 01:54 (nineteen years ago) link
more info here http://either-orchestra.org/newsEthio20PR.html
― H (Heruy), Friday, 16 September 2005 14:42 (nineteen years ago) link
― n/a (Nick A.), Friday, 16 September 2005 14:55 (nineteen years ago) link
― Baaderonixx and the hedonistic gluttons (baaderonixx), Friday, 16 September 2005 14:57 (nineteen years ago) link
― n/a (Nick A.), Friday, 16 September 2005 15:07 (nineteen years ago) link
Those people only like what they hear on Top 40 radio.
― Rockist_Scientist (RSLaRue), Friday, 16 September 2005 15:08 (nineteen years ago) link
― Zack Richardson (teenagequiet), Friday, 16 September 2005 15:35 (nineteen years ago) link
― simian (dymaxia), Friday, 16 September 2005 15:57 (nineteen years ago) link
― älänbänänä (alanbanana), Friday, 16 September 2005 16:06 (nineteen years ago) link
― simian (dymaxia), Friday, 16 September 2005 16:17 (nineteen years ago) link
― Zack Richardson (teenagequiet), Friday, 16 September 2005 16:26 (nineteen years ago) link
― n/a (Nick A.), Friday, 16 September 2005 16:28 (nineteen years ago) link
― Tripmaker (SDWitzm), Friday, 16 September 2005 16:37 (nineteen years ago) link
― Forksclovetofu (Forksclovetofu), Friday, 23 September 2005 15:14 (eighteen years ago) link
― simian (dymaxia), Friday, 23 September 2005 16:31 (eighteen years ago) link
― s1ocki (slutsky), Friday, 23 September 2005 16:35 (eighteen years ago) link
― Beta (abeta), Saturday, 24 September 2005 00:21 (eighteen years ago) link
more tour and other info below http://either-orchestra.org/newsEthio20PR.html http://web.joespub.com/caltool/index.cfm?fuseaction=detail&performanceID=1257 http://www.allaboutjazz.com/php/article.php?id=19330
― H (Heruy), Wednesday, 12 October 2005 11:39 (eighteen years ago) link
Film Puts a New Focus on the Master of 'Ethiojazz' By BEN SISARIOPublished: October 13, 2005
In Jim Jarmusch's latest movie, "Broken Flowers," a graying former ladies' man played by Bill Murray has a strange companion with him as he searches for some old girlfriends, one of whom may have borne his son. He's gloomy but intrigued by the quest, and his mood is matched by the passenger in his rental car: a CD of brooding and mysterious music, a little funky and a little slithery, a bit like a 1970's blaxploitation soundtrack and a bit like dense modal jazz. He never seems to know what to make of it, but he clearly likes it.
The music is a particularly obscure vintage made in Ethiopia in the late 1960's and early 70's by a jazz innovator named Mulatu Astatke, and thanks to "Broken Flowers" and an acclaimed series of CD's, his music has enjoyed a little renaissance lately. A prominent figure in Ethiopia but barely known to Western listeners, Mr. Astatke makes a rare United States appearance tonight at Joe's Pub with the Either/Orchestra, an avant-garde jazz group that has championed him.
From the moment Mr. Jarmusch first heard it, about six years ago, the music got under his skin, he said, and he began seeking it out wherever he could find it. "When I was writing 'Broken Flowers,' " he said by phone from his home in the Catskills, "I was listening to a lot of his music, and I was thinking, 'How do I get this music into a film that's set in suburban America?' It even led me to make the character of Jeffrey Wright of Ethiopian descent." In the film, Mr. Wright's character, Mr. Murray's next-door neighbor, gets him started on his journey and hands him the disc. Several songs by Mr. Astatke are used prominently in the film, and are on the soundtrack album, released by Decca.
Mr. Astatke, a vibraphonist and bandleader, had a suitably cosmopolitan upbringing for a music that blends jazz with funk, Latin music and traditional Ethiopian five-tone scales. Born in 1943 in the western Ethiopian city of Jimma, he was one of the few musicians of his generation to be educated abroad. He went to the Trinity College of Music in London, where he studied clarinet, harmony and theory, and in the early 60's attended the Schillinger House of Music in Boston, now the Berklee College of Music.
"My whole idea," he said by phone the other day from his home in Addis Ababa, "was sort of fusion with Ethiopian and jazz and modern music. I started at Berklee this idea of the 'Ethiojazz' business. From there I came to New York and I had this group, and what I wanted to do, I did it there."
His group in New York, the Ethiopian Quintet, was mostly Puerto Rican. He recorded two albums in the 60's on a small New York label, Worthy. He jammed with Dave Pike, who was Herbie Mann's vibraphonist at the time, and remembers his time here fondly.
"We had all these big bands," he said. "And the Village Gate, the Village Vanguard, the Palladium - there were all these clubs around at that time." He was surprised and delighted to learn that the Vanguard is still in business. "It's still around?" he said. "Fantastic! Wow!"
Mr. Astatke returned to Ethiopia in the late 60's and took part in a fertile musical scene there in the waning years of Emperor Haile Selassie, who was deposed in 1974. Establishing himself as a jazz ambassador, he brought the Hammond organ and vibraphone to Ethiopia. "I changed the whole Ethiopian music," he said without shyness, "combining jazz and fusion with the Ethiopian five-tone scales. Since then my name has been on the very, very top of the Ethiopian musical scene."
The music of that period, influenced by American funk and soul, is being collected in "Éthiopiques," a series of albums on the French label Buda Musique, which since the late 90's has run to 20 volumes. Mr. Astatke's disc, Vol. 4, is its best seller and has seen a bump in sales since "Broken Flowers" was released in August. It is now selling about 1,800 copies a week, said a spokeswoman for Allegro, the albums' American distributor; that is equivalent to the sales of a new album by a world music star like Youssou N'Dour.
Last year the Either/Orchestra, led by the saxophonist and composer Russ Gershon, performed in Addis Ababa and met Mr. Astatke. The group has since brought him to the United States for concerts twice, the first times Mr. Astatke had performed in New York in many years. After performing at Joe's Pub tonight, they will go on a brief Northeastern tour, traveling to Boston, Philadelphia, Washington and Colgate University in Hamilton, N.Y.
Mr. Astatke said he had been following news of "Broken Flowers" by e-mail ("I'm very far away") but had not yet seen them film in its entirety. He added, with a laugh, "I'm going to see it in New York."
― H (Heruy), Wednesday, 12 October 2005 23:00 (eighteen years ago) link
― Rockist_Scientist (RSLaRue), Wednesday, 12 October 2005 23:03 (eighteen years ago) link
Was I there? I just heard about this stuff recently, and I have a feeling I'd really like it.
― jaymc (jaymc), Thursday, 3 November 2005 23:15 (eighteen years ago) link
http://www.allaboutjazz.com/php/article.php?id=19126
http://www.allaboutjazz.com/php/article.php?id=19598
― H (Heruy), Friday, 4 November 2005 08:03 (eighteen years ago) link
― Zack Richardson (teenagequiet), Friday, 4 November 2005 14:33 (eighteen years ago) link
I think I am gonna be busy with my kid and will have to miss it. My son loves Ethiopian food, not so sure about the music. I need to check out the food and music at all those newish Ethiopian restaurants around 9th and U in DC.
― curmudgeon, Friday, 4 November 2005 14:40 (eighteen years ago) link
that's awesome about the mulatu astatke shows!
― Zack Richardson (teenagequiet), Friday, 4 November 2005 15:05 (eighteen years ago) link
― Rockist_Scientist (RSLaRue), Friday, 4 November 2005 15:13 (eighteen years ago) link
― n/a (Nick A.), Friday, 4 November 2005 16:28 (eighteen years ago) link
― bob snoom (vestibule), Tuesday, 8 November 2005 17:45 (eighteen years ago) link
― Wolfcastleee (Leee), Tuesday, 8 November 2005 20:58 (eighteen years ago) link
― greypejooze (Ryanssssss), Monday, 2 October 2006 16:12 (seventeen years ago) link
http://www.afropop.org/radio/radio_program/ID/666/Ethiopia%20Part%201:%20Empire%20and%20Revolution
― H (Heruy), Thursday, 26 October 2006 15:56 (seventeen years ago) link
saw mahmoud ahmed play outdoors yesterday, GREAT performance!!
― s1ocki, Monday, 9 July 2007 19:44 (seventeen years ago) link
JEALOUS!
― Alex in SF, Monday, 9 July 2007 21:54 (seventeen years ago) link
he was awesome! and the band was smoking hot.
― s1ocki, Monday, 9 July 2007 22:03 (seventeen years ago) link
and people were going nuts. clearly a big event for the ethiopian community. much happiness all around.
― s1ocki, Monday, 9 July 2007 22:05 (seventeen years ago) link
just noticed in the latest wire issue (aug, 2007) that manteca will be releasing ‘the very best of ethiopiques’. 2 cd’s / 28 tracks. should be a useful taster for someone like me who hasn’t heard any of the series so far. (not too sure about the elvis costello quote on the front though).
link
also.....here’s an e-music dozen dedicated to ethiopiques:
e-music 12
― sam500, Monday, 30 July 2007 08:26 (seventeen years ago) link
really can't recommend #21 ("ethiopia song," solo piano) enough. listen to it while the nights are still hot. if they're hot where you are.
― s1ocki, Monday, 30 July 2007 15:35 (seventeen years ago) link
Yeah, I'll second the recommendation for #21 -- really gorgeous stuff! Don't know exactly what to call it, but I love it all the same. Is there anything else like this?
― tylerw, Monday, 30 July 2007 15:50 (seventeen years ago) link
I'll third the recommendation on #21: Definitely hints of blues and jazz, but using Ethiopian scales. Kind of hard to describe. Great night music.
― Jazzbo, Monday, 30 July 2007 16:27 (seventeen years ago) link
yes. haunting.
― s1ocki, Monday, 30 July 2007 16:30 (seventeen years ago) link
jazzbo, that's what's so interesting and great about #21 -- there are elements of it that sound *almost* bluesy, *almost* jazzy, *almost* gospel-y, but it seems kind of doubtful that she's actually heard all that much of those kinds of music. It's like she's inventing those genres from scratch.
― tylerw, Monday, 30 July 2007 16:34 (seventeen years ago) link
Exactly.
― Jazzbo, Monday, 30 July 2007 16:39 (seventeen years ago) link
let's not get carried away here. she studied music in europe, chances are she heard jazz.
― s1ocki, Monday, 30 July 2007 16:41 (seventeen years ago) link
hmm, yeah, probably -- but I guess what I mean is that her music doesn't sound tied down to anyone's conception of jazz/blues/gospel. it seems to be coming from a more personally expressive place. if you know what i mean.
― tylerw, Monday, 30 July 2007 16:45 (seventeen years ago) link
Mahmoud Ahmed, Neway Debebe, Maritu Legessese, Setegn Aregaw, Kuribachew W/Mariam...and more at the Washington D.C. Armory September 8th for an Ethiopian Millenium Celebration (more than 25 Artists including dancers and musicians )
― curmudgeon, Thursday, 30 August 2007 05:06 (seventeen years ago) link
oh, fuckin a, that sounds awesome!
― pretzel walrus, Thursday, 30 August 2007 14:58 (seventeen years ago) link
go see mahmoud ahmed!!!
(and everyone else)
― s1ocki, Thursday, 30 August 2007 15:26 (seventeen years ago) link
i totally will. i guess alemayehu doesn't play anymore, but i would give my left nut to see him perform.
― pretzel walrus, Thursday, 30 August 2007 16:44 (seventeen years ago) link
You have exactly one week to learn how to dance skista.
― nabisco, Thursday, 30 August 2007 16:50 (seventeen years ago) link
the ethiopiques compilation is incredible
― corrs unplugged, Thursday, 30 March 2023 13:05 (one year ago) link
https://emahoytsegemariamgebru.bandcamp.com/album/jerusalem
The title track here is incredible.
― Chris L, Friday, 7 April 2023 15:45 (one year ago) link
title track is great because it has her wonderful sense of time, the other songs also have some of that but are more traditional classic solo piano
― corrs unplugged, Saturday, 3 June 2023 07:16 (one year ago) link
vocal compilation forthcoming https://emahoytsegemariamgebru.bandcamp.com/album/souvenirs
― corrs unplugged, Friday, 9 February 2024 11:40 (seven months ago) link
If you like some Ethiopiques comps, you might also like seeing the band Qwanqwa live. They are on a US tour now. Baltimore tonight , DC area Sunday and some gigs in between and many after
https://www.qwanqwa.net/tour
― curmudgeon, Thursday, 11 April 2024 13:36 (five months ago) link
Zanzibara done by the same label had some very interesting material too. Not sure if it got anything like the same recognition.
― Stevo, Thursday, 11 April 2024 15:03 (five months ago) link
https://www.instantseats.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=home.event&eventid=237AB0FE-E847-96A3-1693AEF5C01D8802&k=&CFID=5969167&CFTOKEN=dd0393536c05719f-2753451F-056F-92FC-CFD691C664FA1389
Girma Beyene , pianist / arranger is going to be back in dc area Thursday night July 18. Composer of Muziqawi Silt that Walias Band and others have covered. Also represented on Ethiopiques 30
Sweet old guy who was good when I saw him awhile back
― curmudgeon, Tuesday, 16 July 2024 14:43 (two months ago) link
Went to the Girma Beyengig. He had a band and he and they started late around 10 after 2 opening acts & a movie and then had to finish by the rented theatre's 11 pm weeknight closing time. He talked a bunch, mostly in Amharic, and sounded suave when singing. Not as great as when I saw him 6 years ago, but he wasn't even young back then either. Still good. They showed the Girma movie doc again. Falceto the Ethiopiques compiler found Beyene. Beyene and several members of the Walias Band decided to stay in DC circa 81 when a military dictatorship took over Ethiopia. Beyene's wife got ill from cancer I think and died in a DC hospital and he was heartbroken. He stopped doing music and worked 6 days a week at a gas station to pay the bills for he and his 2 kids. Now this century he's finally back.
Beyene hasn't attracted the crossover crowd that Mulatu Astatke has. When I saw Astatke a little while back at Howard Theatre, the audience was 50 % Ethiopians and 50 % non-Ethiopians. At the Bethesda Theatre Beyene gig the audience was 99 % Ethiopian.
― curmudgeon, Saturday, 20 July 2024 15:50 (two months ago) link
Ethiopian New Year, Enkutatash, is Wednesday September 11. Many Ethiopian New Year’s Eve events at Ethiopian establishments tonight Tuesday
― curmudgeon, Tuesday, 10 September 2024 16:26 (one week ago) link