Gig: Getatchew Mekuria & The Ex

Getatchew Mekuria & The Ex & Guests / Daniel Nebiat

SPK Polish Combatants Hall. Saturday, September 12, 2009.

After a fine day spent tromping around the AGO and wandering the cityscape with K., headed over to the concrete bunker on Beverley for a highly-anticipated show, to see Getatchew Mekuria, the Ethiopian saxophone titan — and on the celebration of the Ethiopian New Year, no less. By a funny coincidence, ran into some of K's friends right after my arrival, so a chance to compare gig stories and so on. Looking around, as the General Chaos light show swirled above the stage, it was building up to be the sort of mixed crowd I was expecting, with different types all drawn to different elements of the bill.

The first night's opener was local musician and Wavelength veteran Daniel Nebiat. Born and raised in Eritrea before coming to Toronto, Nebiat plays an amplified version of a krar, a traditional lyre-like instrument. The unusual looking contraption was best described by the artist himself, who noted that it wasn't unlike the back of a chair. To introduce the crowd to the krar, Nebiat opened with one song solo before his band (keyb, bass) joined him, where the sound went from folksy to funky. Played with a plectrum, Nebiat coaxed a variety of sounds from his krar, including some funky chicken scratches that fit in well with the upbeat, dance-y music. Not quite repetitive — let's say circular: if you weren't listening for the lyrics, you'd best be getting to dancing. With that ba-doomp, ba-doomp rhythm familiar in Ethiopian and Eritrean music, it was easy to start moving along in a sort of club-footed skanking motion — and rather hard to resist. Most of the songs came as extended grooves — with the band, he played a half-dozen songs over an hour, a couple reaching to ten and fifteen minutes. Soon enough, you could see Jonny Dovercourt and Lullabye Arkestra dancing up front with the members of the Eritrean community, the grizzled old punks in leather jackets and the music nerds moving only slightly more hesitantly, everyone sloshing around their bottles of strong Polish beer. In theory, this is how we all like to think Toronto is supposed to work, and it's always rather nice when it does. A really strong set, and when it was done, I stopped at the merch table to grab a copy of his disc.

Listen to a track from this set here.

I've been lucky enough to have seen The Ex before, last time they rolled through town, and that was a pretty great show. For this, I was daring to expect even more, given what I'd heard from their collaborations with Getatchew Mekuria. Hitting the stage, the band tore right into it, ripping it up with an upbeat number, the flurry of the horn section followed by Terrie and Andy launching into a two-guitar interlocking attack, stepping towards each other as if about to engage in a joust.¹ In a ninety-minute set, the band knew how to build up and release the tension, alternating the awesome explosions with intense quieter moments. After a two-song, barn-burning opener, the horns took over for a quieter, more subtly groovy number. A couple songs with Kat on vocals also were an effective switch-up.

But most of all, throughout, it was sax heaven. Mekuria, now in his seventies, plays with a rich, groovy tone filled with vital emotion. There is undoubtedly tonnes to be said about the technical side of his craft, his technique, and how he bridges Ethiopian and European styles, but while playing with such vitality it's hard not just to slip into the richness of it.² There were no few times where I just wanted the song to keep going, which isn't always (usually?) the way I feel in the midst of a ninety minute set. One to remember — one of the best gigs of the year.

Listen to a track from this set here.

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¹ I was left somewhat confused with trying to figure out the fellow singing was, and wondering what had happened to G.W. Sok, only to find out after the fact that Sok has apparently left the band to focus on his other art projects. Filling his big shoes was Arnold de Boer, who pulled off the feat well enough, though perhaps without panache.

² I spotted Carl Wilson doing just that — eyes closed, head bowed and just listening, looking like he might shed a tear of joy as Mekuria played unaccompanied.