For their new long player, appearing on Francis Falceto's prestigious 'Ethiopiques', French Ethio-groove band Wubé Akalé (loosely translated "my sweetie" or "pretty woman"; a name the band took from a song by legendary Ethiopian saxophonist Getatchew Mekurya) joined forces with Ethiopian music legend Girma Bèyènè. Bèyènè, who should be somewhere in his eighties now, had his heyday as a pianist, composer and arranger in the Addis of the nineteen sixties, but fled the country in 1981 to escape the Communist dictatorship. In 2008 he finally returned to his native Ethiopia from exile in the United States in 2008 only to discover he still wasn't forgotten in Addis. On 'Mistakes On Purpose', Akalé Wubé alternates between soulful and funky ('Enkèn Yèlélèbesh', 'Mèslogn Nèbèr', 'Mèlèwètesh Menèw'), bluesy ('Feqer Endè Krar/Yebèqagnal'), jazzy (opener 'Tewèdjign Endèhu/Ahun Negèrign', the delicious almost 10 minute long 'Bèmèlkesh Aydèlem', 'For Amha', 'Sét Alamenem') and even influences from psychedelic funk rock ('Ené Nègn Bay Manèsh' or 'Tewèdjign Endèhu/Ahun Negèrign'), with Girma's spoken word like sounding voice as the only constant. The resulting album immediately takes the listener back to the Ras Hotel (during golden sixties Bèyène's favorite hangout) in downtown Addis!