The sweet essence of Ethiopian jazz, distilled in France - Arat Kilo: A night in Abyssinia

A trance fell over all of those present at the New Morning in Paris on 6 April to hear Arat Kilo playing on the occasion of the release of their album. Onto a foundation of Ethiopian music, with its rich harmonies, plaintive nostalgia, exoticism and sensuality, the group adds a touch of vibrant swing and hints of free jazz, rock, dub and reggae, as group member Michaël Havard (saxophone, flute and percussion) explains with infectious enthusiasm. 

Even for habitués of Ethiopian music, there is nothing ersatz about "A night in Abyssinia". From the very start of the concert, with the piece entitled "Temeles", the thrills of Abyssinia are everywhere, as a lover of Ethiopian music who had come out of pure curiosity told The Courier. The five members of the group won him over along with the rest of the audience, taking them on a nerve-tingling tour of the Addis Abeba night, with the crazily yapping dogs of a piece like "Lelit" and the ethereal romanticism of "Barbue". 

It all started with five mates who met up at the ‘Musiques et Races’ festival in the foothills of the Alps, according to Fabien Girard (electric guitar, balafon  and percussion). All of them were keen followers of foreign music and shared the intuition that music inspired by Ethiopia, to which they all happened to be drawn, would be the reggae of the future. A few trusted guests were then added to the mix, like the extraordinary Malian singer, Rokia Troré (on the song "Get a Chewe") or the talented rapper Socalled (on "Aykèdashem lebé"). And so the magic began... 

Arat Kilo "A night in Abyssinia" (Only Music / Milan Music / Universal Music, France)

See interview with Fabien Girard and Michaël Havard on our website www.acp-eucourier.info

(1) The balafon is a resonated frame, wooden keyed percussion idiophone native of West Africa

Hegel Goutier