Pro Helvetia Cape Town, the Swiss Arts Council, presents a Southern African tour by Imperial Tiger Orchestra, a Geneva-based music group that performs songs from the Golden Age of Ethiopian modern music (1969 – 1978).
Although this six-piece orchestra’s repertoire consists primarily of revamped and reworked Ethio-jazz compositions, they are not to be mistaken for a covers band. Instead the Imperial Tigers explore uncharted territory in this form, playing with textures and dynamics, adding distortions and "noise" to complete beautiful new pieces based on the Ethiopian originals.
The orchestra consists of band members John Menoud (baritone saxophone), Alexandre Rodrigues (keys), Cyril Moulas (bass guitar and phin), Julien Israelian (drums), Luc Détraz (percussion) and leader Raphaël Anker (trumpet). The group came together in 2008, when Anker was invited to perform at the offbeat Genevan experimental music venue “Cave12”. What started as a project in free jazz and "noise", however, mutated into a much more Ethiopian focused form under the guidance of Anker, a longtime Ethio-jazz fan.
In 2009, the group’s identity was solidified when Imperial Tiger Orchestra, via an invitation from Francis Falceto (the curator of the anthology series “Ethiopiques”), performed at the Musiques Ethiopiennes festival in Addis Ababa. By all accounts, the group was the sensation of the festival, impressing Falceto, established Ethiopian musicians as well as local audiences.
The group has two releases to its name: last year’s self-released, self-titled debut, consisting of songs by the masters Mahmoud Ahmed and Getatchew Mekurya among others, and “Addis Abeba” (2010, Mental Groove Records), a 12” vinyl record that includes two songs recorded live at Club Alizé in Addis. “In this all instrumental band, musicians are no more, it is the instruments that rule, murmur and rage on pentatonic scales, inhale, exhale or lift melisma, so that they catch and breathe the traditional vocals of the legends that inspire their repertoire,” wrote one reviewer (www.addistunes.com).
For their tour of Southern Africa, which includes dates in Cape Town, Johannesburg, Durban, Harare, and Maputo, Imperial Tiger Orchestra will perform with Ethiopian artist Endres Hassan, who plays the masenqo, a traditional single-string violin.
Imperial Tiger Orchestra Tour Dates:
29 September - Pan African Space Station, Cape Town
1 October - Pan African Space Station, Cape Town
2 October - Book Café, Harare
3 October - Workshop, Harare
4 October - Workshop, Johannesburg
7 October - CCFM, Maputo
8 October - The Bassline, Johannesburg
9 October - BAT Centre (Poetry Africa), Durban
For information about the group:
www.myspace.com/imperialtigerorchestra |
|
