Dereb The Ambassador – Dereb The Ambassador

Musicians have the power to transport us to a time and place not our own. When that time and place is 1960s Ethiopia and those musicians are predominantly white Australians, the journey becomes all the more intriguing. Ethiopian migrant Dereb Desalegn has teamed up here with Sydney producer Tony Buchen in a collaboration inspired by the Ethiopiques series of releases, chronicling the musical explosion that took place in the country in the 60s and 70s. Desalegn has some of Sydney’s finest musicians at his disposal here, including a five piece horn section of local jazz heavyweights, with fellow expat, pianist Danny Atlaw Seifu, making up the nine-strong band. The opening track, Addis Ababa Bete, after a dramatic arabesque piano introduction by Seifu, erupts into a swinging, trance-like groove before Desalegn’s mesmerising voice floats in with calm, precise power over the raging band. The whirling desert feelings of Kulun and the bombastic shimmy of Yelage Tizeta expand on that initial intrigue, as the authority, nuance and genuine fun of the performances continue to illustrate Desalegn’s Ethiopia with vivid detail. The warmth and grit that places this record so authentically amongst its distant cousins is thanks to Buchen’s attention to detail in the recording and mixing of the album, in which only pre-1970s analogue equipment was used. A real local classic.

****1/2