Featured on Gilles Peterson’s All Winners 2014 show, Black Flower take you on a lucid dream-dance voyage through the gardens of the Abyssinian Afterlife – a highly remarkable place, far from what you and I would call reality. It’s a place where strange creatures and unfamiliar sounds merge into a harmony of the weird and the beautiful. It is said that these are the secret realms of the long past legendary ruler of Ethiopia, Sir Prester John. Some even claim that he composed these sounds as a way of ruling his ancient land. Whether this is fact or myth, nobody knows for sure…
Inspired by artists such as ‘father of Ethiojazz’ Mulatu Astatke, sax giant Getatchew Mekurya and bossman Fela Kuti, Black Flower carve out a groove between the borders of Ethiopiques, Afrobeat, Jazz and Oriental, making soulful music with an eccentric and psychedelic identity and bursting with African rhythm. Their compositions surprise in many ways having at their heart an exotic-sensual sound, but the end result is an ecstatic party like you’ve never experienced before.
“Black Flower’s unique reinvention of Ethio jazz has to be heard. At times as heavy and as trippy as hell and at others intricate, subtle and abstract, the musicianship is always super-tight and the production is raw. Highly recommended.” Quinton Scott, Strut Records
Black Flower blows your mind! In their most serious moments these gentlemen sound like John Zorn’s Masada and in their moments of loose swing, they sound as tight as Fela Kuti. Kurt Overbergh, Ancienne Belgique
One of the freshest Belgian releases of the past music year… they serve a steamy cocktail that would make the Kuti family bow… ‘Abyssinia Afterlife’ truly hits the spot Joachim Ceulemans, Kwadratuur
Black Flower’s UK debut tour is timed to coincide with Ethiopian New Year (Addis Amet) which this year takes place on 12 September. Their album Abyssinian Afterlife is distributed in the UK through Discovery Records.
The Picturehouse Cafe Bar is open beforehand for delicious food and drinks.