The Ethiopian musicians Mulatu Astatqé, Mahmoud Ahmed and Alèmayéhu Eshèté played a selection of their extraordinary brand of early fusion sounds. Accompanying them was The Either/Orchestra, a group of jazz musicians who have played and recorded since the late 1990s under the rubric of the Ethiopiques.
Before long, Ahmed, Astatqué and Eshèté had the whole room dancing and singing along to their ethereal, deeply rhythmic songbook. With the Ethiopiques scene threatening to do for Ethiopian musicians what Buena Vista Social Club did for Cuban artists – i.e. win a global fanbase – you can only hope that Irish music fans will be inspired to explore Ethiopian sounds in earnest. It’s be great to see this kind of excellent line-up return to play on a more regular basis.