Mulatu Astatke & Hoodna Orchestra - Tension {Full Album} - Batov Records

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https://mulatuastatke.bandcamp.com/album/tension

Ethio-jazz pioneer Mulatu Astatke joins the Hoodna Orchestra, Tel Aviv’s number one Afro funk collective, melding his enchanting vibraphone playing with their brass heavy force across seven original compositions that play tribute to the classic Mulatu sound while forging fresh paths. Produced by and featuring Dap-King Neal Sugarman, the results are gritty, yet majestic, soulful and uplifting.

Mulatu Astatke requires little introduction at this point. Born in Jimma, Ethiopia, Mulatu went on to live and study in London, Boston and New York. Initially drawn to and trained in jazz and Latin music, he developed the sound he called “Ethio-jazz” over a series of seminal albums combining jazz, Latin, funk and soul, with traditional Ethiopian scales and rhythms.

The album commences with title track “Tension”, leading Mulatu’s signature sound in a new, rhythmically intense direction, hence the name, providing fresh creative ground for the collaborators. Astatke’s vibraphone sets the scene, before drummer Matan Assayag attacks the beat and Nadav Bracha’s marching bassline and Rani’s percussion propel the track forward, and Hoodna’s brass section delivers a classic Ethio motif. Mulatu’s enchanting vibraphone solo is followed by a blistering tenor sax solo by Eylon Tushiner. This is Ethio-jazz on turbochargers.

Recorded towards the end of their session, “Major” provides a whole new dimension, joyously and effortlessly swinging out of the speakers after “Tension”. You can sense how comfortable the band feels together at this point. The track features a superb organ solo by Drabkin. The Smilan composed “Hatula” embodies the sound of a cat prowling outside on a hot summer’s night with poise and finesse, before building into a great crescendo that belies the feline creature’s unpredictable behavior and wilder instincts. “Yashan” on the other hand is classic smoke-filled- lounge Ethio-jazz with an undercurrent of tension you can cut with a knife, with the Elad Gellert baritone sax solo lulling you into a false sense of security.

The Latin-jazz tinged grooves of “Delilah” play homage to the early roots of Mulatu’s sound. Leading the song’s key motif, Tushiner’s seductive flute is well balanced by Smilan’s guitar, proceeding beautifully into an enchanting solo by Astatke himself. Tushiner takes an extended turn himself, soloing like Hungarian guitar legend Gábor Szabó, if only he’d moved to Cairo instead of San Francisco. Joined by Sugarman on saxophones, the brass section plays a subtle but important role on his occasion, gently accompanying in the background.

The album closes fittingly with “Dung Gate”. A Birenbaum composition, the track features slow, heavy, melodic motif led by the brass section, counterbalanced by a tidal wave of percussion and hand-clapping. One can imagine the band slowly marching out of the venue through the crowd at the end of their show, the audience clapping in time with the orchestra’s brass and percussion, recalling another legend, the late great Sun Ra.

On one hand, ‘Tension’ is clearly a deeply personal tribute by the Hoodna Orchestra to iconic Mulatu Astatke, but at the same time the recordings emit a remarkable amount of chemistry, and together they have created an essential addition to Mulatu’s rich discography that charts new directions in his Ethio-jazz trajectory and provides the Hoodna Orchestra with their strongest album to date.
credits
releases November 8, 2024

Mulatu Astatke - vibraphone, piano, percussion
Ilan Smilan - Guitar
Eitan Drabkin - Organ
Nadav Bracha - Bass
Eylon Tushiner - Tenor saxophone, Flute
Elad Gellert - Baritone saxophone
Bar Ashkenazi - Trumpet,Flugelhorn
Matan Assayag - Drums
Raz Eytan - Percussion
Shahar Ber - Percussion
Ran Birnbaum - Percussion
Neal Sugarman - tenor sax on #5 Alto sax on #5
Udi Raz - Trombone on # 3

All arrangements by Hoodna Orchestra

Neal Sugarman and Ilan Smilan - producer
Recorded by Uri Vertheim At Anova studios Tel Aviv on March 1st and 2nd 2023
Ran Yeshurun - Sound tech.
Nitai Shem Tov - Sound tech.
Alex Terry - mix
JJ Golden - master
Dekel Hevroni - Cover design

Elie Weiss - producer
Jason Perkins - producer

℗ © Batov Records 2024 | BTR103
www.batovrecords.com
Distributed by !K7 Music

1. 00:00 - Tension
2. 04:57 - Major
3. 08:51 - Hatula
4. 14:38 - Yashan
5. 21:57 - Delilah
6. 26:53 - Dung Gate

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