International artists touring Australia have long saved on costs by working with a pickup band, very often time and again. Over the years the Ethiopian vibraphone icon Mulatu Astatke, the ‘Daddy from Addy’, has proved himself as adept at fronting different bands in the UK, Ethiopia and Australia as he is at wielding patterns on his vibes, the ease with which he melds the sounds and rhythms of musical hotspots building bridges for collaborators, wherever they are. The originator of Ethio-jazz, Astatke and his melodic, Arabic-sounding, labyrinthine paths are augmented in the UK/Europe by a wish-list jazz team including trumpeter Byron Wallen and pianist Alexander Hawkins, who has spoken of the ways in which Astatke's affinity with Duke Ellington is filtered through an African rhythmic sensibility. Comparatively speaking, Melbourne eight-piece Black Jesus Experience fall short, though they circumvent a lack of wow moments with a funky one-love aesthetic both danceable and politicised.

This is BJX and Astatke's second studio collaboration, and is lifted once again by the vocals, ululations and spoken-word musings of Ethiopian-born singer Enushu Taye, who shines on the snaking ‘Kulun Manweleshi’ and lends spiritual import to ‘Stolen Land’. First single ‘Lijay’ brings reggae and hip-hop into the mix, with Zimbabwean/Australian MC, Mr Monk musing in English on Taye's Amharic ode to mothers. Throughout, Astatke weaves a sonic cat's cradle, his creativity fresh, and seemingly infinite.