At a glance
Once heard, never forgotten.
Sorted. A case of discovering the music of Mulatu Astatke not via the radio or on a promo. But sat, hotfoot from Tally Ho, up the way in a Muswell Hill cinema. The picture house there (an Odeon, was it then?) was putting on quirky Jim Jarmusch road movie Broken Flowers during which the Addis icon’s music features fairly magically particularly his classic ‘Yèkèrmo Sèw‘. By a fluke then we heard Astatke not long after with his London band in the flesh at a jazz festival in Bergen. It was too late too stop getting into this sound.
All these years on that brassy & vibes soaked Coptic mode of a thing never tires. Tension is the best thing we have heard from the globe trotting Ethiopian since Sketches of Ethiopia a decade ago issued by Jazz Village.
The usual Mulatu trademarks are here and it’s even more dance floor friendly than before.
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Lightning in a bottle from Mulatu Astatke
We were won over most of all by the version here that bears in mind Clifford Brown’s take on Victor Young’s ‘Delilah.’
Aka ‘The Song of Delilah’ inspired by the Cecil B. DeMille film from the late-1940s Samson and Delilah starring Hedy Lamarr the song was covered in a creamy vocals version by crooner Art Lund. There’s an even better and fairly extraordinary contemporary take of a treatment it must be said by Nat King Cole that is worth seeking out.
Co-produced by and featuring Dap-King Neal Sugarman Tension flows from start to finish.
Highlights also include the Henry Mancini-esque swagger of ‘Major.’
Hoodna Orchestra were formed in 2012 on the south side of Tel Aviv. A 12-piece, members include guitarist Ilan Smilan who co-produces and writes some tunes.
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