Ahmed, Mahmoud – “Ere Mela Mela ” – [Kaifa Records]

French re-release of essential mid-70s Ethiopian classic. High-powered Afro-Arabic jazz grooves with guitar, bass, organ, drums, percussion, flute, and some of the craziest sax lines I’ve ever heard. In front of the band, Ahmed sings so passionately I don’t need to know the language to know he means every single word he sings. My favorite tracks are A2, A4, B3, and B4, all packed full of dark funk in those weird Ethiopian scales, with the band playing as if possessed. B2 is also great, but it’s slower and more of a sexy trance-like thing. The rest of the tracks are more “pop” sounding, and they’re cool too, but I like this music best when it sounds like Sun Ra and Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan sitting in with Ricky Ricardo’s orchestra, and they’re playing in your garage. Five stars.