Arat Kilo

Undisputed leaders of the Ethio-jazz scene in France, Arat Kilo are one of the most exciting cross-cultural outfits around. Joined by Malian diva Mamani Keita and US rap pioneer Mike Ladd, this supergroup racks up superlatives both on record and on stage. With hypnotic grooves, blazing horns and irresistible melodies, they stay true to the spirit of the music of their elders without ever lapsing into nostalgia. Even when tackling themes such as police violence, social injustice or the legacy of colonialism, what stands out most are the urban, celebratory overtones of their songs, which draw as much from Addis Ababa as from Paris or Boston. It all began in 2008 at a festival in the heart of the Queyras Alps, when three Parisian kids met: guitarist Fabien Girard, saxophonist Michaël Havard and bassist Samuel Hirsch, all obsessed with Buda Musique’s Éthiopiques compilations and the daring experiments of John Zorn. The band chose the unusual name “Arat Kilo” as a tribute to a student district of Addis Ababa – an oasis of youth, knowledge and light – located “four kilometres” from the train station. They self-released a first untitled EP, recorded at night in the Arte Radio studio, followed by their official debut album A Night in Abyssinia – a nod to Dizzy Gillespie – featuring Malian singer Rokia Traoré, Canadian rapper Socalled and their revered mentor Mulatu Astatke, who revisited one of his mesmerising pieces, “Dewel”, alongside his thrilled young disciples. A brief, improvised trip to Ethiopia to listen beyond their fantasies led to the mini-album 12 Days in Addis (2012), recorded in the capital with top local musicians. The line-up was then strengthened by the arrival of drummer Florent Berteau, percussionist Gérald Bonnegrace and trumpeter/pianist Aristide Gonçalves, dramatically expanding the band’s sound palette and paving the way for the self-produced album Nouvelle Fleur (2016), marked by their first collaborations with Malian singer Mamani Keita and American rapper Mike Ladd. They later signed to the label Accords Croisés to release Visions of Selam (2018, with Mike and Mamani) and De Kaboul à Bamako: Sowal Diabi (2022, born from encounters with Afghan, Kurdish and Iranian musicians, again with Mamani), and since 2019 have been touring the show Le Dernier Rimbaud, a musical reading of the letters sent from Abyssinia by the author of A Season in Hell, created in collaboration with a writer.