Listen & Be Heard Weekly Archives

?ÄúAll night the sound had/come back again,/and again falls/this quiet, persistent rain.?Äù
–Robert Creeley, ?ÄúThe Rain?Äù

Elias Negash, speaking on behalf of the Ethiopian Arts Forum, was introducing the Either/Orchestra and their special guest Mulatu Astatke at Historic Sweet?Äôs Ballroom in Oakland on Saturday night, February 2, 2008. The introduction was in English, which had been preceded by an introduction in Amharic for the Ethiopian members of the evening?Äôs audience. Negash was listing many of the accomplishments of Astatke, considered the father of Ethiopian jazz or ?ÄúEthio-jazz,?Äù one of them being his performing with Duke Ellington. ?ÄúI was there at that concert,?Äù Negash said, ?Äúand it changed my life.?Äù

I had a pretty good idea about what Negash meant. A few years ago I was in a record store looking at some of the Ethiopiques CDs in the series distributed by Paris?Äô Buda Musique label, when I picked up the series?Äô fourth entry and inspected its photograph of Ellington on the front cover. He was beside a microphone stand, holding what appeared to be the traditional Ethiopian lyre known as a masenqo tucked under his right arm, and looking at the smiling face of the man standing at the piano, who was fingering a chord while the members of Ellington?Äôs orchestra reviewed sheet music. The photograph was taken in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, in November 1973. The man at the piano was Mulatu Astatke. I bought the CD, which contained only compositions and recordings by Astatke, and immediately fell in love with its deep grooves built around single chords and not-always-4/4 time rhythms. The love has not subsided.

By the time Bill Murray appeared on ?ÄúLate Show with David Letterman?Äù in 2005 and brought a clip to promote his current film ?ÄúBroken Flowers,?Äù Astatke?Äôs music was burned deeply into the iPod of my mind. That evening Letterman called for the clip to be shown; its first image was of Murray sitting on a sofa with music I recognized in the background. Astatke?Äôs music. Those first few seconds alone convinced me to see the movie. (I did. It was great.)

And so on Groundhog Day 2008 I was seated in one of 450 chairs on the ballroom floors (I got there early, wet from the rain, and had plenty of time for things like counting objects while I dried and drank a soda.) waiting for the Either/Orchestra to take its place onstage and begin the evening?Äôs presentation. Enter Mr. Negash, cue introduction.

The Either/Orchestra began with a song its leader, tenor and soprano saxophonist Russ Gershon, called ?ÄúRopa Loca,?Äù which translates to ?Äúcrazy clothes?Äù (somewhere my former Spanish teacher is smiling) and has more in common with Bud Powell?Äôs ?ÄúUn Poco Loco?Äù than Ricky Martin?Äôs ?ÄúLa Vida Loca.?Äù Crazy clothes, indeed: introducing trumpeter Tom Halter, Gershon pointed out that ?Äúhe?Äôs wearing a Red Sox cap, his shirt is from Uganda, his scarf is from Scotland, and his tennis shoes are from New Jersey.?Äù

?ÄúRopa Loca?Äù began with a recorder-like flute solo by Henry Cook, then proceeded to roar its way through an on-the-mark staccato main theme, followed by strong and well-conceived solos by trombonist Joel Yennior and alto saxophonist Godwin Lewis, and concluded with a return and ritard of the main theme. Crazy? Hardly. And just getting started.

Gershon then introduced Mulatu Astatke, who acknowledged a sustained standing ovation from all 450 audience members and took his place at the vibraphone positioned at stage right. The musicians began playing Astatke?Äôs 1958 composition ?ÄúYelib Lay Esat?Äù after Gershon?Äôs commenting on how it sounds ?Äúwell, it?Äôs 1958.?Äù Astatke?Äôs vibes style is similar in approach to Milt Jackson?Äôs but his melody lines and explorations are definitely his own. His electric piano style throughout the evening, in fact, was also very vibes-like in approach; later at one point during the set, Gershon referred to Astatke?Äôs piano parts as the ?Äúsimulated vibraphone.?Äù Always metallic and brittle, always perfect within each song.

?ÄúYelib Lay Esat?Äù recalled Miles Davis?Äô ?ÄúFreddie Freeloader?Äù in parts, enough to cause thoughts of ?ÄúWhat Would Miles Do??Äù to dance in and out of my mind. As with many great jazz performances and compositions, there were a number of musical reference points from the past ?Äì here a bit of ?ÄúSummertime?Äù from Halter, there a snippet of ?ÄúMy Favorite Things?Äù from Lewis ?Äì all leading into the soloist?Äôs development of a musical idea often having little in common with the original quote. Halter, in fact, went from Gershwin to a sustained ascending chromatic exploration than was remarkably without any sense of flash for flash?Äôs sake. No bling, just sing.

?ÄúSoul Song,?Äù from the Either/Orchestra?Äôs 2002 CD ?ÄúAfro-Cubism,?Äù did just that ?Äì sing. Cook switched to baritone sax for this one and played a robust solo, his tone rich and deep, while Lewis switched to flute, where he placed the ?ÄúMy Favorite Things?Äù reference during his solo. This song had plenty of cowbell from drummer Pablo Bencid, enough to make me wonder whether Christopher Walken was going to appear onstage and reprise his Bruce Dickinson character from the well-known ?ÄúSaturday Night Live?Äù sketch. (?ÄúI gotta have more cowbell!?Äù) Astatke also contributed to the percussion mix with some shakire parts and shared one of the three congas that got a major workout all night long from conguero Vincente Lebron.

Gershon introduced the tune that followed ?ÄúSoul Song?Äù as something created during a festival four years ago in Ethiopia and influenced by the amount of time the band members spent in Azmari bars. The Ethiopians in the audience laughed at the mention of these bars, where the local musicians usually play traditional folk instruments, compose songs with audience members?Äô names in them, and where a knowing laugh between band members seemed to suggest that an abundance of fun was shared at the Azmaris. Maybe even an overabundance on some nights. Gershon went on to mention how not only was Cook able to play the Ethiopian bamboo flute known as a washint, ?Äúhe now makes them out of PVC tubing.?Äù The band then proceeded to play a composition that featured Cook on a flute that looked like it was made from neither bamboo nor PVC but sounded like an Ethiopian breeze. More breezin?Äô than ?ÄúBreezin?Äô.?Äù

The highlight of the set was a medley of three songs from the above-mentioned ?ÄúEthiopiques 4?Äù CD, which Gershon prefaced by mentioning how ?ÄúJim Jarmusch is one of the hippest guys around ?Äì did anybody see ?ÄòBroken Flowers?’?Äù As the audience responded with joyful approval, Gershon continued his introduction, ?Äú ?Äì and so these songs are all in G and we call it ?ÄòThe ?ÄúBroken Flowers?Äù Suite.?Äô?Äù The band opened with ?ÄúYekermo Sew,?Äù ended that segment with a Ornette-ish free-jazz ensemble coda to segue into a beautifully rhapsodic tenor solo from Gershon on (I think) ?ÄúGubelye?Äù that was been my favorite moment of the night, then headed directly into ?ÄúYegelle Tezeta.?Äù At this point, not much else in life could have been better.

Following another round of well-deserved applause, Gershon introduced the band members. Along with the above-named individuals, the band also included Dan Rosenthal on trumpet, Rafael Alcala on piano, and Rick McLaughlin on bass, all of whom made huge contributions to the evening?Äôs music with their solo and ensemble work. Gershon then asked for applause for the band?Äôs special guest and the entire audience rose as one for Astatke?Äôs second sustained standing ovation. Well-earned and well-deserved.

Gershon then announced that the band would return after a short break for a second set. ?ÄúIt?Äôs beautiful California weather,?Äù he said, fully aware of the rain falling outside, ?Äúso you may as well stay here, because you?Äôre just gonna get wet.?Äù I, unfortunately, had miles (Miles?) to go before I slept, so I regretfully left Historic Sweet?Äôs Ballroom and became, as Robert Creeley once wrote in his poem ?ÄúThe Rain,?Äù completely ?Äúwet with a decent happiness.?Äù Inside and out.

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