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Avg: 4.5 (27 ratings)
- Date Released: May 6, 2003
- Genre: International
- Style: Africa
- Label: Buda - Ethiopiques / Believe Digital
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We Say...
Instrumental African jazz doesn't get much more interesting than this. Mèkurya's technique, speed and passionate approach to improvisation might suggest a taste for bebop, but in fact, he hardly listened to the stuff. His main inspiration is a traditional vocal style called shellèla, a wordy, rapping oratory used to rev up warriors for battle in earlier times. Rendered in the mellow tones of a vintage tenor, the music's aggressive nature takes on a totally unique other-worldliness. Most of the accompaniments feature hypnotic ostinatos and organ drones — sometimes just one chord — and slow, 6/8 time. In these settings, the soloist is free to rip with fluttery cascades of restless riffing. All the tracks but one (the late-'50s-vintage "Shellèla Bèsaxophone") were recorded in the same year, 1972, but there's enough variety in the backing instruments and raw inventiveness in Mèkurya's solo flights to stand up to many listenings.
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They Say...
The Ethiopiques series of world music keeps slowly widening its arc, and this time around it's come up with some very interesting vintage (circa 1972) material. Ethiopiques, Vol. 14: Negus of Ethiopian Sax features Getatchew Mekurya, a sax player whose inspiration comes from traditional warrior music: the kind meant to whip soldiers into a frenzy before battle. And frenzied his playing truly is, with several shades of free jazz at its most abandoned (which, curiously, he claims never to have heard). It's wild stuff -- but wild only on the sax. The band behind him exists strictly for melodic and rhythmic function. While they perform admirably, they add little to the music itself, while the sax takes off on weird and wonderful paths. It's stirring, and demands a lot of a Western listener unfamiliar with the tradition. But it's perhaps best ingested in small doses. And while it's interesting, certainly, it's not on a par with the rest of the series.
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| 01. |  |
Yegenet Muziqa |
4:33 |
|
| 02. | |
Shellela |
5:12 |
|
| 03. | |
Aha Gedawo |
4:50 |
|
| 04. | |
Antchi Hoye |
3:51 |
|
| 05. | |
Ambassel |
5:44 |
|
| 06. | |
Almaz Yeharerwa |
3:49 |
|
| 07. | |
Yene Hassab Gwadegna |
5:35 |
|
| 08. | |
Shemonwanaye |
3:25 |
|
| 09. | |
Gofere/Antchi Hoye |
7:09 |
|
| 10. | |
Aynotche Terabu |
4:36 |
|
| 11. | |
Akale Wube |
4:12 |
|
| 12. | |
Tezeta |
4:43 |
|
| 13. | |
Gedamay |
3:51 |
|
| 14. | |
Muziqa Heywete |
3:10 |
|
| 15. | |
Shellela Besaxaphone |
2:43 |
|
15 Total Tracks, 67:23 Total Length
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Credits
- Alemayehu Eshete - Bass // Francis Falceto - Liner Notes // Francis Falceto - Editing // Francis Falceto - Production Executive // Francis Falceto - Series Editor // Wilfred Harpaille - Restoration // Wilfred Harpaille - Tape Transfer // Karen Albrecht - Translation // Jack Garnier - Graphic Design // Getatchew Mekurya - Arranger // Getatchew Mekurya - Sax (Tenor) // Desta Atlaw - Photography // Gétatchèw Dègèfu - Organ // Gétatchèw Dègèfu - Piano // Gétatchèw Dègèfu - Keyboards // Shimèlis Dèsta - Photography // Eshètu Haylé - Drums // Maurice Lachin - Liner Notes // Kassa Mehrèté - Photography // Leul Mekonnen - Photography // Mèkonnen Mèrsha - Trumpet // Bogalè Wèldè Hanna - Maracas // Bogalè Wèldè Hanna - Saxophone // Dimitry Weliachew - Liner Notes
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