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MULATU ASTATKÉ WITH THE EITHER/ORCHESTRA
RENAISSANCE BAND
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Boston big band the Either/Orchestra’s collaboration with Ethiopia’s Mulatu Astatké at the Regent Theatre in Arlington Center a week ago Wednesday was both a historic and a joyful occasion. Historic because this was almost certainly the first live public performance in the US of many of this Ethiopian-music pioneer’s pieces. Joyful because Mulatu’s music is some of the most uplifting and cosmopolitan dance music in the world, infectiously grooving, orchestrated with sophistication and taste, and redolent of the diverse Ethiopian musical cultures he clearly holds so dear. There is no figure in American music quite comparable to Mulatu, a composer/arranger and multi-instrumentalist whose introduction of elements of American jazz, Latin, and funk helped shape the course of his country’s popular music. An early practitioner of the cultural fusion now more widely current in jazz, he was recording between 1969 and 1974 in Ethiopia the music on which his reputation rests today. (These tracks are compiled on the Buda Musique release Ethiopiques, Vol 4: Ethio Jazz and Musique Instrumentale 1969–1974.) In addition to his musical accomplishments, he’s a radio personality, a club owner, and the head of a music school — a dapper, soft-spoken one-man musical renaissance. With only two days of rehearsal behind them, the band sounded raggedy on "Kulun-Manqualesh" and a medley of "Derashe/Asosa/Dewel." But as the night progressed, the ensemble tightened, the sinuous minor-mode melodies flowed smoothly, and sectional call-and-response riffs punctuated the rolling Afrobeats. The melody of "Konso Music" was passed among instruments; Tom Halter’s muted trumpet solo sizzled and popped over the percolating rhythm laid down by drummer Francisco Mela and percussionist Vicente Lebron. The shifting tempos of "Yezamed Yebaed" inspired trombonist Joel Yennior and alto-saxophonist Jeremy Udden to some of their best playing of the night. Pianist Leo Blanco set funky riffs and phrases dancing in his solo on "Munayé," and E/O leader Russ Gershon unleashed the percussionists for an energized duet. Playing vibraphone and percussion, Mulatu was more guiding spirit than featured soloist. A wily veteran who knows how to convey the funky essence of a piece with a few well-placed notes, he played compact, elegant solos on "Alchalkum" and a jazzy "Leb Lay Estate." His conga and timbale contributions were examples of restrained power and relaxed execution. But it was the power of his vision — of a music that reflected both his origins and his love for jazz — that reached across continents and generations.
BY ED HAZELL
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