CD Review: Akale Wube's 'Mata'

Akale Wube
Mata
Ais

The France-based Afro-beat group, Akale Wube, is named after a song by Ethiopia's Getatchew Mekurya. Mata is alive with Afro-beat rhythms, edgy psych punk, drifting melodies, and funky grooves that are instrumental and memorable. The punchy sax joins the lilting guitar, bubbling bass, scintillating krar, and soaring flutes. The Rhodes, trombone, violin, bugle, and trumpet makes an appearance, too. The music of Ethiopia is rich with psych-funk and Afro-beat jazz that is fairly well-known throughout the world music community. Akale Wube presents five new tracks and additional tracks reinvented with the works of Mulatu Astatke, Feqadu-Amde-Mesqel, Tsehaytu Beraki, and two traditional compositions. The music is quite upbeat and funky with smooth beats and psych-enriched qualities that could jazz-up any night club in Addis Ababa, or your hometown's music hot-spot. ~ Matthew Forss