Mulatu Astatke has continued to be embraced by young generations of music fans, and not solely for the classic 1970s records that laid the foundation for Ethio-Jazz. His collaboration with UK collective The Heliocentrics in 2009 was a resounding success, showing an interest in experimentation and modern sounds unexpected in a gentleman of his years.
His latest collaboration, on the album Cradle of Humanity and this tour, is with Melbourne band Black Jesus Experience. The band, all white men dressed in vaguely African clothing, began the show with an awkward and confusing introduction from bandleader Peter Harper about Ethiopia being the birthplace of coffee. What was meant as praise came across as stereotyping.
It was a treat to watch Astatke beginning Yekermo Sew with a solo on the instrument he’s most famously associated, the vibraphone. The stillness of the room allowed his voice to be heard, singing along to the melody, seemingly mesmerised. This spell was broken when the bass player entered the song somewhat uncertainly, adding a pulse, swiftly followed by the rest of the band.
The bass playing remained fairly unglued from the drums throughout, while the drumming itself was overly simple for this type of music. It felt as if the rhythm section were pulling in one direction and the horns and keys in another.
The deep funk of Netsanet had some good moments, with Astatke switching to Rhodes piano and Harper delivering a killer saxophone solo. The horn section, which also included flugelhorn player Ian Dixon, often handled the main melodic lines, and sounded wonderful together. Pianist Bob Sedergreen was by far the most impressive player of the BJX, providing tasteful virtuosity as well as showmanship.
But while The Heliocentrics collaboration felt like a true combination of styles, this instead felt like a funk band trying to jam their sound into Astatke’s compositions. To make things worse, we couldn’t really hear Astatke. The man who should have been at the centre of the action instead spent much of the show watching it from behind conga drums.
Liam Monkhouse joined the group occasionally to deliver some fast paced rapping, which seemed completely out of place. Every time that he did this guitarist Zac Lister and bassist Chris Frangou would jump up and down as if they were in Rage Against the Machine.
While it was a pleasure to hear some of Astatke’s classic songs, this meeting of worlds largely didn’t work.
BY ALEX WATTS
LOVED: Hearing some classic Astatke tunes.
HATED: The funk/rock/rap elements.
DRANK: Nothing.
