Getatchew Mekuria & The Ex & Guests - Moa Anbessa

Gétatchèw Mèkurya is an Ethiopian jazz saxophonist. He began his musical studies on traditional Ethiopian instruments such as the krar and the messengo, and later moved on to the saxophone and the clarinet. The Ex are an anarchist punk band from Amsterdam, They formed in 1979 at the height of the original punk explosion and have released nearly twenty full-length albums. They heard Gétatchèw Mèkurya on Negus of Ethiopian Sax and invited him to perform at their 25th anniversary concert. In turn, Mèkurya asked The Ex to be the backup band for his 2006 album, Moa Anbessa. The album is a mix of studio and live tracks. The melodies are at once stomping, blusterly, joyous, wistful, searching, and triumphant. Very interesting! Highly recommended!

Artist: Getatchew Mekuria & The Ex & Guests
Album: Mon Anbessa
Year: 2006
Genre: jazz, punk, world

Tracks:
1. Ethiopia Hagere
2. Sethed Seketelat
3. Eywat Setenafegagn
4. Che Belew Shellela
5. Aynamaye Nesh
6. Aynotche Terabu/Shemonmwanaye
7. Musicawi Silt
8. Tezeta
9. Almaz Yeharerwa
10. Tezalegn Yetentu
11. Aha Begena


The Ex official Website
Gétatchèw Mèkurya (Wikipedia)
Last.fm

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The Q4 - Sound Surroundings

The Q4 (The Quadraphoni Quartet) is a collaboration of three (used to be four = quartet!) Dutch producers: Arts the Beatdoctor, Sense and STW. The band was formed in 2005 in Amsterdam and, since then, they have created an impressive amount of material together, coloured by a wide range of musical influences and artistic collaborations. Although hip-hop is the foundation for all their music, material ranges from jazz & dub to hardcore hip-hop beats and drum & bass. This is their most recent album, released earlier this year. Reminds me of last year's amazing 2econd Class Citizen. Excellent!

Artist: The Q4
Album: Sound Surroundings
Year: 2010
Genre: hip-hop, trip-hop, electronica, downtempo

Tracks:
1. Intro
2. One of These Days
3. Oscuros Angeles (feat. Curra Suarez)
4. Demagogues (feat. PAX)
5. Look Again
6. Goin’ Down (feat. Terryman)
7. My Own Advice (feat. Unorthadox)
8. Pulse (feat. BLS)
9. Split Personality, Pt. II
10. Trouble With Me
11. Trouble Dub (Outro)

Official Website
Last.fm
MySpace

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The Kilimanjaro Darkjazz Ensemble - Here Be Dragons

The Kilimanjaro Darkjazz Ensemble (TKDE) formed in 2000 as a project to compose new music for existing silent movies. Jason Köhnen and Gideon Kiers, both graduates of the Utrecht School of Arts. In 2004, British trombonist Hilary Jeffery and Swiss cellist Nina Hitz joined TKDE to record the amazing self-titled debut album which was released on Planet Mu Records in May 2006. The ensuing tour saw Eelco Bosman and Paris based vocalist Charlotte Cegarra join, forming the Ensemble into a sextet. London based violinist Sadie Anderson joined in 2008 to supply the group with extra power on stage. Their music cannot really be placed in one genre. They combine traditional instruments with some electronics and improvisation; the result is a fusion of jazz, dark-jazz, classical and experimental music. This is their most recent album. Awesome!

Artist: The Kilimanjaro Darkjazz Ensemble
Album: Here Be Dragons
Year: 2009
Genre: dark-jazz, experimental, jazz

Tracks:
1. Lead Squid
2. Caravan!
3. Embers
4. Sirocco
5. Mists of Krakatoa
6. Sharbath Gula
7. Samhain Labs
8. Seneca
9. The MacGuffin

Official Website
Last.fm
MySpace

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