Led by saxophonist and sonic explorer Matthew Ottignon, Mister Ott is a genre-bending ensemble that fuses Afro-funk, Ethio-jazz, dub, and psychedelia into magnetic dancefloor mantras. Their sound is groove-based and spiritually charged.

What began as Ottignon’s personal love letter to the hypnotic grooves of Mulatu Astatke and Getatchew Mekurya has grown into one of the standout voices of Australia’s improvised music scene. After a tour of Ethiopia with Dereb the Ambassador, Ottignon immersed himself in Ethio-jazz’s modal scales and rhythmic architecture, channeling its ancestral weight into a contemporary context powered by funk, hip-hop, and global groove.

Rooted in Sydney but fluent in a dozen musical dialects, Mister Ott features some of Australia’s heavy-weight improvisers. On stage, the band is a collective force – rhythm section locked in, horns blazing unison lines, and a sonic atmosphere that lifts the dancefloor into ecstatic territory.

Their debut album Drop It Like It’s Ott (2015) introduced a potent fusion of Ethio motifs and jazz-funk exuberance. With Single Shot (2016), the band pushed further into Afro-futurist territory. The latest release, In the Flow (2021, Urban Trout/Earshift), continues that expansion, blending Afrobeat heat, dub textures, and swirling ethereal landscapes. Whether laying down cosmic meditations or blasting funk-driven firestarters, Mister Ott embodies what it means to make music that is both deeply rooted and unmistakably modern.