Six piece jazz ensemble Azmari’s debut EP, Ekera, is a stylish multi-faceted listening experience. Recorded in just three days, the EP reflects the band’s creative spontaneity: “We love to jam, we jam a lot and our music comes from that”, says drummer and bandleader, Arthur Ancion.
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The record encompasses a wide range of stylistic influences, drawing on the band’s shared love of East African, oriental and dub sounds, with particular attention paid to the remarkable compositions that emerged from the first great epoch of Ethiopian jazz. Likewise, the Azmari sound is also heavily influenced by a ten day run of performances in Istanbul, which exposed the band to the bohemian sounds and rhythms that evolved in Turkey during the 1960s. The result is a wonderfully crafted EP that draws these contrasting styles together with formidable results – as exemplified by the track “K’aïsita”, which you can catch as an MD premiere, below!
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Azmari – Ekera is out for release on May 24, 2019 via SDBAN Ultra