Arat Kilo

Born in Paris in 2008 around saxophonist Michaël Havard, Arat Kilo initially developed in the wake of ethio-jazz, reworking the musical heritage of 1960s and 1970s Addis Ababa within an ensemble now organised as a sextet. Arat Kilo's sound blends brass lines, bass and drums with a strong groove, guitar and percussion, with a marked use of Ethiopian modes, jazz and funk, in instrumental writing open to more contemporary forms. After the EP Ethiopic Jazz in 2009, the group released A Night in Abyssinia in 2011, then 12 Days in Addis in 2013, before the double album Nouvelle fleur in 2016, which further broadened its spectrum. Arat Kilo also collaborated with Mulatu Astatke and later developed a more regular partnership with Mike Ladd and Mamani Keïta, heard on Visions of Selam in 2018 and on Danama in 2025. Through the personnel changes of the mid-2010s, Arat Kilo stabilised a formula in which ethio-jazz engages in dialogue with African music, spoken word and urban textures, in a repertoire conceived as much for the stage as for the record.