Country : Ethiopia Label : Piranha Genres and styles : East African Traditional / Ethiopian Jazz / Saharan Blues Year : 2020

Afropentatonism

· by Alain Brunet

Afropentatonism is the title of a first collaboration between desert bluesman Alhousseini Anivolla and Ethio-jazz guitarist Girum Mezmur. Singer, guitarist, and bassist, Niger’s Anivolla had made a name for himself as frontman of the group Etran Finatawa, and also through his own projects from 2012 on. As for Mezmur, the superb guitarist has a long history in East Africa and is one of the key players of the musical revival in Addis Ababa, at the end of a cultural darkness under the authoritarian powers. Flashback? Ethiopian modernity expressed itself musically as early as the end of the 1950s, but it became world-famous long after its key elements had been expatriated to Europe. Ethio-jazz is a long way from the Tuareg blues, but the two styles are nevertheless linked by the desert culture, present everywhere in Niger and also in the northern part of Ethiopia. Ethio-jazz draws from the traditions of the Nile, at the confluence of African and Arab civilizations, but also from North American R&B, funk, and jazz. As for desert blues, it is the direct ancestor of Afro-American blues, but one feels the clear distinction in the playing, in the tone, in the direct and lucid character of the declamations, in the vocal inflections and of course in the instrumentation, even if it is electrified. In this case, the meeting of these two musical currents from Nile-region and Saharan Africa is essentially built on the exploitation of pentatonic scales (at five pitches of sound), so famously at the roots of the blues. On Afropentatonism, Ethio-jazz exhales more richness, harmonic and also rhythmic (binary/ternary alternations), which takes nothing away from the hypnotic grooves of the sandy Niger blues. One thing’s for sure, the meeting occurs between these two great currents of Africa. The exchange is fair, inspired and committed.

Latest 360 Content

Transforming Hiroshima mon amour into contemporary opera: Christian Lapointe and Rosa Lind tell the story

Transforming Hiroshima mon amour into contemporary opera: Christian Lapointe and Rosa Lind tell the story

Sparks – MAD!

Sparks – MAD!

“Hiroshima, mon amour”: An Evening to Remember

“Hiroshima, mon amour”: An Evening to Remember

Peter Murphy – Silver Shade

Peter Murphy – Silver Shade

Ken Pomeroy – Cruel World

Ken Pomeroy – Cruel World

Art of the Line: Klangkarussell’s Euro Vision at SAT

Art of the Line: Klangkarussell’s Euro Vision at SAT

Festival des Saveurs | Closing With Reggae

Festival des Saveurs | Closing With Reggae

Centroamérica – a powerful docu-play about truth and connection in an age of distance and denial

Centroamérica – a powerful docu-play about truth and connection in an age of distance and denial

Lido Pimienta – La Belleza

Lido Pimienta – La Belleza

Tamir Barzilay – Phosphene Journal

Tamir Barzilay – Phosphene Journal

The best ‘’Candlelight concert‘’ ever.

The best ‘’Candlelight concert‘’ ever.

Men I Trust – Equus Caballus

Men I Trust – Equus Caballus

The Halluci Nation – Path of the Baby Face

The Halluci Nation – Path of the Baby Face

A lap steel guitar choir and an angel to end the Innovations en concert 24-25 season

A lap steel guitar choir and an angel to end the Innovations en concert 24-25 season

The OSM and Abel Selaocoe: Evenings When You’d Like to Stop Time

The OSM and Abel Selaocoe: Evenings When You’d Like to Stop Time

Reaching for the sky: Francis Choinière’s challenge to end his OPCM’s 10th season

Reaching for the sky: Francis Choinière’s challenge to end his OPCM’s 10th season

Piknic 3: A Little Bit of Everything Under the Sun

Piknic 3: A Little Bit of Everything Under the Sun

Cazzu – Latinaje

Cazzu – Latinaje

Stereolab – Instant Holograms On Metal Film

Stereolab – Instant Holograms On Metal Film

SMCQ | In memoriam Jocelyn Morlock

SMCQ | In memoriam Jocelyn Morlock

Abbey Road at Festival Classica

Abbey Road at Festival Classica

Mira Choquette – Hier encore

Mira Choquette – Hier encore

Jared Dunn; Anna Gorecka – Gorecki’s World of the Piano

Jared Dunn; Anna Gorecka – Gorecki’s World of the Piano

Subscribe to our newsletter