With over 10 million inhabitants residing in LA, cultural diversities coexist in a dynamic relationship that is unparalleled in most parts of the world. If you happen to drive ten miles in any one direction you can pass through Thai town, Little Ethiopia, Koreatown the list goes on and on. It’s as if we have the entire globe crammed into this vibrant sprawl. This is what I like best about my city. I effortlessly encounter life that is colored with varied cuisine and the chance to indulge in music created from all across the globe. So it was all part and parcel when Mochilla and ArtDontSleep hosted Timeless, a weekly series of epic multi-culti proportions.
On Sunday, February 1st they brought together an impressive line up in this four part series paying homage to the composers whose oeuvre in the past has inspired the beatmakers of the future. And the opening night was no exception as it featured the legendary creator of ethio-jazz, Mulatu Astatke. The man graced Los Angelenos with a live performance at Cal State LA’s Luckman auditorium. As the first African student to enroll at the prestigious Berklee College of music, Astatke had been creating music with his signature sound, fusing the east backbone with a unique style of jazz and Latin rhythms. A legacy that spanned over forty years and continues today.
The night opened up with Cut Chemist, Quantic and Egon, three DJs from the LA scene who had been inspired and awed by Astatke’s musical prowess. Cut Chemist rocked the auditorium spinning rare Ethiopian 45’s among other obscure cultural gems. I witnessed some of the best musical abstractions: tweaking and scratching, creating loops, speeding up, slowing down, and warping them through a thrilling effects rig. To top off this performance, a video camera was propped up, overlooking Cut’s tables so the audience could visually experience the musical mayhem. The screen was split, with one half focused on Cut’s upper torso and turntables, and the lower portion on his feet working the effects pedals. It was impressive to see his lightening skills, watching adroit fingers scratching and dialing in all the knobs on the fly. At one point during a segue in his set he caught his breath and yelled out, “hang on for a sec, it’s like tuning an instrument for each song.” It was quite possibly one of the best live DJ sessions I’ve witnessed.
When Mulatu Astatke took to the stage he got a standing ovation that reverberated throughout the auditorium. The whistles and applause were so loud it momentarily deafened my ears. I noticed to my left groups of Ethiopian-Americans came out to represent their national pride and rally support for their country’s hero. I surveyed the sold out crowd; and it seemed like every artist, musician and DJ I knew from the LA scene was at this very special show.
Dressed in stately white Astatke, accented with a colorful Ethiopian scarf round his neck; he greeted the hushed audience with a beaming grin. He played the vibes, Congas and Timbalis. Backing him up was a twelve-piece orchestra, which was an egalitarian mix of young and old players local to the Los Angeles music scene. Now in his late 60’s Astatke has clearly established his sound but relies more on his orchestra to fill in for the live show. A subdued performance in comparison to his younger days. He came in on the vibraphone for a solo, punctuating the orchestral swell with his sweet floating melodies. Then he’d chill out on the Congas and allowed the talented players to trade off and floss a bit. The mellifluous strains of Miguel Atwood-Ferguson’s viola and the saxophones of Azar Lawrence played nicely off the African percussion provided by Alan Lightner and Munyungo Jackson. Local musicians Dan Ubick updated the ethiopian jazz numbers with his distorted electric guitar, while Todd Simon provided passionate horn lines to the music.
There was an undeniable raw funkiness that the original Ethiopian military band brought to the recordings, that no session player from Los Angeles could ever truly replicate. With that said, however, the orchestra had a sumptuous L.A. atmosphere that was a welcoming derivative to the Ethiopiques’ recordings (on the label, Buda Musique) I’ve been listening to for so many years.