The physical form of dragonchild's debut is a vinyl 4-LP set, titled BLACK, containing a single 20-minute piece of music revealed when the four albums are played simultaneously. This physical release imagines a vinyl record as an art piece, with photography by Ethiopian photographer Michael Tsegaye, depicting a lava lake in the Afar region of eastern Ethiopia. Each vinyl record is translucent, with music on one side and an engraved topographic map of the lava fields on the reverse.
You can’t really listen to “BLACK,” but you can perform it. First, of course, you will need four turntables, and a space to set them up. (The album includes a diagram showing optimum placement.) You will also need three accomplices, so that all four tonearms can be dropped at once. “Debo,” the name of DA Mekonnen’s previous band, is an Amharic word meaning “communal labor”; to truly experience “BLACK,” you need a community, too.
This is a beautiful and audacious project: an artistic landmark, and an important addition to the long history of African-American cultural exchange.
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The stripped bare elements at the heart of this music––clapping and tom-tom drums––are a foundation of support for lilting saxophone and dancing keys. The title is a nod to communication in the information age and the universal system for encoding and text. "U+1200" is the first character, "Ha," of the Ethiopic standard.
credits
from dragonchild,
track released March 30, 2023
Produced by Daniel Louis D'Errico
Co-produced by DA Mekonnen
Recorded & mixed by Daniel Louis D'Errico
Saxophone and organ by DA Mekonnen
Synths & drum programming by Daniel Louis D'Errico
The earliest recordings from celebrated trumpeter, composer, producer and DJ Matthew Halsall get remixed and remastered for vinyl. Bandcamp New & Notable Nov 21, 2019
Energy time maddafakkas! This is hard hitting free jazz for the revolution. Listening to this you could believe it might actually happen!
Anyone who thinks Jazz is for old folks should give this a spin. It couldn’t be more contemporary to my ears. Crinklechips