Ethiopian inspired jazz from Israel is the compound of Sandman Project. It’s a heady mix overseen by Tal Sandman, the guitarist and leader of the group based in Jaffa, the Arabic district of Tel Aviv. Consisting of just four band members on guitar, trumpet, bass and drums, they are set to release their debut Royal Family EP on the mighty Batov Records.
‘Savannah Trip’, the 5th and last track on the record, is an invitation to traverse the Malian desert with an insistent sense of purpose that could easily be lost with a larger group or production. It reflects a marriage of psychedelic West African rock and Ethopian jazz carried by swirling trumpets and the adventure of Tal’s guitar. The fretboard is pushed to the limits as the band slink through the door of the cosmos and join Sun Ra in ethereal, improvisational vibration.
The band’s name is in reference to an affinity with the earth’s elements. With its often purely instrumental sound and use of the Tezeta Ethopian scale, they point to such greats as Mulatu Astatke, Ebo Taylor and Babatunde Otalunji for inspiration.
Yet it is the Israeli-Ethopian connection that underpins the music. Tal played under the stewardship of the great Abatte Barihun, known as the Ethopian John Coltrane. Abatte joins over 150,000 Ethopians who have emigrated to Israel since the 1970s, many of whom live in Jaffa. Against the backdrop of Arab/Israeli conflict, Tal expresses the importance of peace and union in her community: “My choice to live in Jaffa is because I feel safer and connected to a place where Arabs, both Muslims and Christians, and Jews, live in peace leaving space for everyone to live their lives”. This EP represents the integral influence of Arabic culture and music drawn from Tal’s many Palestinian connections in Jaffa and elsewhere.
Available on digital or 12″ here.