KUTU was born in Addis Abeba where violinist and composer Théo Ceccaldi, a multifaceted improvising French musician and a celebrated classical and jazz figure in his own country, met the symbiotic voice of the Ethiopian rock singer Hewan Gebrewold who, with her acrobatic vocals and supple moves, is well- known on the city’s vibrant underground music scene as part of the 10-piece rock band, Jano. Together they embarked on a project to create a new improvisatory concept blending Azmari and Ethio-Jazz roots with the poetry and grooves of international urban culture. It is a journey through the feverish nights of a 2020 underground Addis, where a hyperactive youth captures ancestral musics to better free themselves from them. From nowadays poems, and collected Ethiopian tribal rhythms, Théo Ceccaldi conceived a telluric set where improvisation, soaring of voices and punk energy meet, supported by a strong rhythmic section and a line-up with catching energy: electro-cosmic keyboards, primitive percussions, hypnotic bass, exalted dances and stellar voices. A glowing Ethiopian trance combo, where the freedom of jazz merges with the raw depth of Azmari sounds. KUTU stirs and explodes with dazzling rhythms and energy, imposing a frenetic dance, a joyful spirituality! In Ethiopia the band is affectionately viewed as a sort of UFO on account of its almost extra-terrestrial sound.