The Sorcerers: The Ethiopiques Of The Modern Age

Music sounds and styles take many various forms, and a lot of sounds eventually come full circle in return. We’ve seen a certain funk and soul sound akin to the late 60’s pop up, as well as garage, even boom bap hip hop makes a resurgence in modern day tracks. While Ethio-Jazz is something that is touched upon by a few bands, usually combined with African rhythms, highlife, or afrobeat, a band emerges out of Leeds, England to take on a whole genre and then some. The Sorcerers, the house band for the Leeds label ATA, were formed by the guitarist Pete Williams and bassist Neil Innes after writing some Ethio inspired music for a 7″. Featuring Joost Hendrickx on drum, Johnny Richards on pino, and the multi-instrumentalist Richard Ormond, the response was so overwhelming that they decided to do a whole recrod. Heavily influenced by Ehthiopian Jazz, but also blending the sounds of 60’s and 70’s European horror films, this band has been championed by the likes of Jazzman Gerald (who quoted the title of this article) and probably the most well known of all Ethio-Jazz musicians Mulatu Estatke. If that isn’t a cosign to the highest level, we don’t know what is. If you’re a fan of his work (and if you’re not, you should be), you will be delighted at this record. Properly recorded by this ace band, you will be amazed as they forge a path of their own in the modern world with theses past influences and their own special sound. Preserving and spreading this gospel to a whole new population of listeners, The Sorcerers nailed it on this record. “The Horror”, a sample from the record is Ehtio-Jazz right down to the core. A pounding, steady backbeat, eerie organ, and horns sit nicely with the bass line. It’s not hard to get up out of your seat and move to their groove on this track. They are living the music, and we are receiving the this aural transmission to pass it on to the next listener. It transports you back to when Mulatu was in London, or making music at Berklee, or even a night club in Addis Ababa. It feels that authentic. A most unique release, we are delighted to present this record to you today. Available worldwide August 7th on ATA Records on LP, CD, and digital. Preview a track below, and after that, tell us you don’t want this record in your collection. We dare you.