Dragonchild

dragonchild is the solo-venture of American-Ethiopian sax player Danny Mekonnen, and though it may initially feel like quite a dramatic shift from the big rock and funk grooves of his previous ensemble Debo Band, it’s actually its most natural progression. Here he just goes deeper into the sounds he grew up with, taking a more intimate and personal approach. Opening track “Unicode 1200” is hypnotic in its repetitiveness, just like many traditional Ethiopian styles, but leaves ample space for Mekonnen’s saxophone to take off in a way reminiscent of Getatchew Mekurya’s warbling shellela. “The Source” is a sparkling dance track with some distant echoes of gqom’s dark undertones, “LTD” and “Sera” are swinging and jazzy, and “Meditation (Ancestor)” is a 20 minute meditative odyssey. Despite the completely different genres, the record still feels cohesive, connected by Ethiopia’s rich culture and Mekonnen’s own diasporic experience.