Because everyone got so excited about Mulatu Astatke at Gent Jazz in 2019 (and because we can’t invite the guy every single year), we went looking for another Ethio-jazz act. In all honesty, we didn’t look very long or hard, because after they released the exquisite album Future Flora last year – not to mention all the albums that came before it – Black Flower emerged as the obvious choice. Truth (and our hips) be told, the band around Ragini Trio saxophonist Nathan Daems does not only draw its influences from Ethiopia. On the contrary. Think Paris – Dakar, but through the Balkans and Nigeria, and all the way to Addis Ababa. Oh, and they’re a lot funkier than a car race too.