Addis Acoustic Project
Tewesta “Remembrance”
World Village/Harmonia Mundi
www.worldvillagemusic.com
By George W. Harris

Here’s a style of music I’m willing to bet you’ve never heard before, Ethiopian jazz! While the title is exotic, much of the music will remind you of familiar genres. The team of Girum Mezmur/g, Henock Temesgen/b, Nathaniel Tesemma/dr, Ayele Mamo/mandolin, Mesale Legesse/perc, and Dawit Ferew/cl create sounds that mix traditional Ethiopian melodies with hints of middle eastern harmonies, Caribbean lilt and Meditteranean lyricism on this sumptuous and accessible release. Songs like “Ema Rumba” and “Selam Yihoun Lehoulachin” have an alluring lilt, with evocative rhythm guitars, while Ferew’s clear and clean clarinet weaves in and out of songs like “Amassel.” There are some lush vocal harmonies that sound at once Byzantine and yet modern, while latin pulses on somenting like “Alemoush Mambo” mixes sound like a goulash. A Haillie Selassie success.