Ignore the politics and listen just to the music for a moment, turn the words to mush in your head, and let the drums and bass and the horns take over, and what you have is a funk world music; a sweaty, dance groove sound built to be moved to. Dance music.
That is exactly what Doncker and band insist upon you doing on Power Of The Trinity… A Slight Return; for an EP that takes half its name from a Jimi Hendrix Song, and right on the heels of the bands Howling Wolf cover EP, this is not a guitar work: it takes George Clinton’s edict and reverses it: free your ass and your mind will follow, trusting that as you sing along to the backing singers admonishments, “We need justice”, it is sinking in.
The roots of A Slight Return aren’t the 2012 Haile Sellaise inspired musical The Power Of The Trinity from 2012, but a song off 2008’s Small World, “Children Of Dorfur”. In 2003, the Sudan State sponsored mass murder of men, women and children in the province of Darfur inspired Tomas to write the song as an act of witness: “I see you crying, I see you suffering”. When I first heard the song, I didn’t quite get it but it stands as one of the clearest political statements: Doncker, like all of us, is paralyzed by the horror. But he shares the sight, the horror, the concern.
Certainly, the song lead the soul man to rethink his approach and while I can’t claim it has improved his songwriting, it has cleared his musical palate. This continued when, asked if he would write the music for a musical based upon Haile’s speech to the United Nations warning of the impending disaster awaiting the world if they allowed Italy to invade Ethiopia, Doncker followed his mood to… Washington, DC, a District with the most vibrant Ethiopian community in the States, and formed a musical alchemy with the great “Hendrix of Ethiopia” Selam Waldermarian. But his sense of righteousness was forged in Darfur.
Between the two, the building blocks for Global soul were built and the latest result is A Slight Return. The six song EP, less than half an hour in length, is a lightning bolt of world dance music: “Brooklyn2Ethiopia”, “We Need Justice” and ” Peace (Hold On)” are 14 minutes of of power soul and funk, it literally moves you and it has you holding your breath as it whirls past you. You are half way through the EP before you know what has hit you. There is a song by True Groove artist Marla Mase, “Piece Of Peace”, which works as a blueprint for the direction these songs take. Doncker and the band are extolling, preaching, demanding a peaceful world, justice: while the concept is nebulous to an extent, the viciousness belies the intentions. Think of the Jesus that threw the Moneylenders out of the Synagogue, peaceful isn’t a euphemism for wimpiness. Doncker wants you to get on the peace train without nodding off during he trip. On “We Need Justice”, the cry for Justice isn’t a joyful experience, it is a scream of outrage. All three songs are horn fueled dance tracks, all three will free your ass and your mind we follow.
“Habasha Girl” a Reggae flickering tribute to the women of Ethiopia is the most beautiful song on the EP, a chance to sit and groove to the dubby sunshine tribute to the Nubian femalle, and also, in its own way, a chance to consider that ALL PROCEEDS from the EP are being donated to The Studio Samuel Foundation’s 1Hundred Girls Impact Plan (www.studiosamuel.org), where Tomas is Global Ambassador. From their mission statement: “The 1Hundred Girls Impact Plan aims to reach over 100 Ethiopian young women in 2013, inclusive of education, HIV awareness, healthcare, self-defense training, financial advising, career counseling, mentoring and community groups, directly arming these young women with necessary tools for the next phase of their lives”
“Happy”, the most straightforward song on the EP, with a nod of the head to Sly Stone, gets you to “Abet Gurage” where the guitar leads the way on the only song to have made it from the 2012 musical. It ends the album in completely raucous fashion and features the great Ethiopian singer Mahmoud Ahmed. Mahmoud’s verse is one of the great moments on an EP which has many many many moments to choose from: including GiGi’s singing on “Brooklyn2Ethiopia” and the way the entire sound builds towards the horns, you can hear GiGi leading you towards the horns on the bridge, and then singing over them. Really it is a bounty of sound.
The politics seem rooted in a Utopian cry for one world, which, while admirable enough, Tomas won’t be getting it any time soon.”Do you want to improve the world? I don’t think it can be done”, is how the Tao put it 5000 years ago, But Tomas isn’t naive, so while he allows his opinion to reach you, even if it is a study in utility, he is willing to accept that simply by hearing his words of peace, you will have a better feel for what is at stake. And then, because words can only get you so far, he allows music to be his Global Peace Plan to sound the way he wants the world to feel, and finally, in a very real way, helps the world through his work with the The Studio Samuel Foundation’s 1Hundred Girls Impact Plan.
The band themselves are on fire throughout this album and if David Barnes harp hijacked the Howling Wolf EP, Mark Henry’s horns with the help of Steven Bernstein,Mark Henry,Paul Shapiro and Peter Apfelbaum (“All Legends in their own right. Mark is a regular member of the Band,But the Other 3 are important members of the GLOBAL SOUL family” -according to Doncker) steals this one. There are three guitarists here and you keep on going back to the horns, everything they touch they take over; they are central in a way 1950s rock and rollers made horns central. It is a tribute to Doncker’s firm self control that he allows an instrument to be dominant dependent purely upon the songs needs. Tomas is in fine writing form throughout the EP, though I would give Wolf the edge vocally.
Slight Return Volume One is a great EP but there is every chance that Volume Two, with “Rise Above” and “How Long” -the latter a perfect soulful pop songs with echoes of Motown just below the surface, may well be even better. What I love about this EP is also what bemuses, with the exception of “Habesha Girl” it is relentless and magnificent. It will wear you out. A Slight Return is too good.
THE TOMÁS DONCKER BAND IS:
Tomás Doncker-Vocals/Guitars
Daniel Sadownick-Percussion
Nick Rolfe-Organ/Keyboards/Vvocals
Josh David-Bass/Vocals
Kevin Jenkins-Vocals
Manu Koch-Keyboards
Selam Woldemariam-Guitars
Damon Duewhite-Drums
Mark Henry-Horns
James Dellatacoma-Guitars
David Barnes-Harmonica
Grade: A