Kutu
Already one of the revelations of the 2022 panorama, ‘KUTU’ is the fruit of the encounter in Addis Ababa between the French violinist & composer Théo Ceccaldi and Ethiopian vocalists Hewan Gebrewold & Haleluya Tekletsadik. Unleashing hypnotic and trance-heavy grooves, thanks to a forceful rhythm section, cosmic keyboard lines and stellar vocal performances, ‘KUTU’ merges the freedom of jazz, the immediacy of dance music and the incomparable depth of the Ethiopian sounds.
‘KUTU’ is madness, trance & mead vapours of starry nights and the brilliant singers of Addis Ababa, building channels & bridges with rock, jazz and electronics, connected with the music of the past and the future.
The violinist, who in the beginning took the classical route (first prize for violin, composition and chamber music at the conservatory), decided very soon to take up jazz. In 2019 in Addis Ababa, capital of Ethiopia, heart of the last African empire and mecca of Ethiopian jazz fans, Théo knows his classics, in this case the treasures of the golden age of swing gathered in the Ethiopiques collection. After visiting the in-clubs and cabarets where the Azmarí bards sing, at the Club Vardas he encountered the Jano Orchestra, a formation highlighted by its two vocalists: Haleluya Tekletsadik and Hewan Gebrewold. He invited them to improvise and after that meeting, recalls Théo, “in that feeling of getting carried away and taking a risk that happened in that exchange, I felt like they wanted to find out what territory we could inhabit together. This is exactly what ‘KUTU’ became”.
Following some Paris-Addis comings and goings and exchanges via Whatsapp, Theó returned to Addis a year after with ten demos. The vocalists made their definitive push, and the lyrics by Haleluya & Hewan their finished form. This brought about a revolution there, as female singers in Ethiopia are often expected to only interpret songs written by men. “I think it’s a strong message of emancipation, and that it’s the posture that makes more sense than the content itself. It’s a first step towards a more singular path, at the margin of what has been traditionally done for decades…” explains the violinist.
The album found its definitive form in Paris, where the vocals joined the pieces played by Valentin Ceccaldi (Théo’s brother) on bass, Cyril Atef on drums and Akemi Fujimori-Poivre on keyboards, that contributed to the extraterrestrial sound of ‘KUTU’. From “Ambassel” to “Yambara”, the ten numbers that feature in Guramayle take you on a wild journey where trance is king.
- Line-Up:
- Théo Ceccaldi: violin
- Haleluya Tekletsadik: vocals
- Hewan Gebrewold: vocals
- Valentin Ceccaldi: bass
- Cyril Atef: drums
