Volume 3
Qwanqwa (45 mins)
If you’ve been paying attention to Ethiopian tradi-modern music over the past five-odd years, you will have come across the names of Qwanqwa’s musicians. Mesele Asmamaw (krar), Anteneh Teklemariam (bass krar), Endris Hassen (masenqo) and Misale Legasse (kebero) have cropped up as sidemen in so many projects; here, together with Addis-based American violinist Kaethe Hostetter, they all get their own time to shine.
Qwanqwa are, for the most part, an instrumental group. The interplay created between the krars and fiddles mean that they’re adept at playing traditional or contemporary music, and with the help of electronic effects (not to mention Anteneh’s slap bass on the krar) they’re more than capable of making it funky. However, there is a tendency for the group’s textures to feel a bit static after a while, like something is missing – that’s all solved whenever Mesele picks up the microphone and freshens everything up with his voice. It’s a pity that only happens on two tracks.
The shredding krar and dubtronic violin of ‘Sewoch’ are delightful, but it is the epic 18-minute finale, ‘Serg’, a brooding, groove-laden medley of wedding songs, that you want to look out for here. When Qwanqwa strike the right balance, they can be absolutely irresistible.