
AZMARI
AZMARI aus Belgien spielen einen kosmopolitischen Stil zwischen Ethio-Jazz, Afrobeat und Funk in den Tonarten des Mittleren Ostens. Drums und diverse Percussions breiten eine dichte perkussive Grundlage aus, auf der Keyboards, Saxofone und Flöte ihre Solis, Improvisationen und Arrangements durchexerzieren können, wobei Tonlage und Harmonien trotz der 70s-lastigen, funkigen Jazz-Grooves und gelegentlichen Psychedelic-Anklängen zumeist orientalisch bzw. arabisch sind. Unendlich tanzbar, fräsen sich Melodien und Bläsersätze zusätzlich tief in das Gedächntis, während tighte Arrangements mit frei fließenden groovig-dubbigen Passagen abwechseln. Einfach eine unfassbar gute Band!
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Created in Brussels in 2015, Azmari is a weaving musical odyssey that expertly fuses ethiogroove, dub, psychfunk and eastern sounds.
Taking inspiration from artists such as Okay Temiz, Mulatu Astatke, Cymande, Fela Kuti and The Heliocentrics, an Azmari, literally „one who praises“ in Amharic, is an Ethiopian singer-musician, comparable to the European bard or the West African griot often accompanied with a masenqo – one-stringed fiddle or krar – lyre, two traditional ethiopian instruments. Having released their debut EP ‘Ekera’ last year, a series of shows across Europe saw the Azmari sound develop and ten days performing in Istanbul opened the band’s ears to the Turkish sounds and rhythms from the 1960s.
Keen to get back in the studio to start work on their debut album, studiously studying Turkish and Ethiopian scales, along with learning new instruments along the way including the berimbau, the ney and bağlama, the Azmari sound transformed into a rebellious, unrelenting and mesmerising trip. The resulting nine tracks that make up debut album ‘Samā’ī’, released 22nd January via Sdban UItra, is a deeply hypnotic experience where mesmerising rhythms and winding improvisations send the listener in to a higher state of consciousness.
From the magical sax of album opener ‘Zegiyitwali’, to the dubby template of ‘Cosmic Masadani’ and joyous horns of ‘Kugler’, Azmari seamlessly blend African and oriental melodies with effortless precision, providing a fresh take on the ethiojazz sound. Elsewhere, the heavy, rhythmic sounds of ‘Tariq Al Sahara’ and the mystical and cosmological ‘Azalai’ continue our sacred journey full of raging saxes and wig-out percussion, while the free-spirited, trippy ‘Kadiköy’ coming in at nine minutes in duration, lends a trance-like quality to proceedings where psychedelic jazz meets afro-funk.
Latest News
29/12/2020AZMARI announce new album, unveil first track!
31/07/2020
COVID-19: Updated list of canceled gigs (first wave, March-August 2020)!
30/07/2020
Sommer 2020, da geht noch was! ☀️
07/10/2019