Beauties

The first full reissue since its initial release in 1976, Beauties features the two enigmatic female singers Aselefech Ashine and Getenesh Kebret backed by The Army Band – one of the most formidable groups of jazz and funk musicians of the Ethiopian scene. One of the last records of its era, it took Ethiopia by storm when it debuted shortly after the deposition of Emperor Haile Selassie, but was largely lost in the turmoil of the revolution and the duo never made another album.

Highly trained in the modal scales of their culture, Aselefech Ashine & Getenesh Kebret sing mainly homophonically, yet the interplay between their shifting registers is characterised by tension and release which, in turn, jars and slides against the sax, flute, piano, bass and percussion of the band. For those not familiar with Ethio-jazz, the influences of American jazz, Latin rhythms and other Western tonalities are unmistakable, yet the native scales and inflections predominate and give rise to a sound that is as syncretic as it is genuinely unique. I have no idea what they’re singing about, but so much of this album is infectiously joyful and groovy that it truly is a collection of beauties.