root salad f18 Ethiocolor
It’s not all funk: Bas Springer finds that young Ethiopian artists are returning to their roots.
A
sked about the music situation in Ethiopia at this moment Belay answers that “The synthesiser almost killed the Ethiopian music but now there is a trend of reviving our roots music. It’s still not like other African countries but we are making progress. The young generation is very interested in their own identity and cultural heritage. We meet a lot of young artists who want to perform in the Fendika. The music scene in Ethiopia is very healthy at the moment. For the past five, six years there has been a good balance between old and modern music.”
”In Ethiocolor we bring together three generations of musicians. For instance, our flute player Yohannes Afework has been playing for more than 50 years. We also asked some young musicians from the National Theatre and Azmari musicians. We mix generations and ethnic groups togeth- er, that’s why we call ourselves Ethiocolor.”
A
lthough such ageing Ethiopian superstars as Mahmoud Ahmed and Mulatu Astatke still perform, and Ethiojazz bands are more
popular than ever, the golden years of Ethiopian music are long gone. This cre- ative era, excellently documented on the CD series Éthiopiques, was characterised by an unique mix of traditional Ethiopian music and American soul, funk and rock- ’n’roll. During the past two decades, Ethiopian music has been dominated by the synthesiser but there has been a recent upsurge of young Ethiopian artists return- ing to their roots.
Among the exponents of this move- ment is the group Ethiocolor, who gave an exciting performance at Womex 2014 in Santiago de Compostella. This eleven-piece ensemble explores the rich musical tradi- tions found throughout Ethiopia. Ethiocol- or’s home base is the Fendika Azmari Bet, a popular azmari (Ethiopian troubadours) club in the capital, Addis Ababa. An Azmari Bet, literally meaning the House of the Azmaris, is a café with live music and dance. Visitors are entertained and sometimes playfully offended by Azmari, who com- ment on daily life and current events with critical and humorous lyrics.
The club’s owner is Melaku Belay,
Ethiopia’s most internationally renowned dancer. He has worked with Mahmoud Ahmed and Ethiopian sax giant Getatchew Mekuria, and has been managing the Fendi-
ka since 2008. “For twelve years I was danc- ing in the Fendika. I didn’t get paid and lived on the tips from visitors. When I got the chance to run the place I said yes,” he recalls.
“Azmari musicians are excellent impro- visers who come up with lyrics at the drop of a hat. They are very funny and sing about daily life. We never had an Azmari club like this before in Ethiopia,” says Belay.
Five years ago he formed Ethiocolor, bringing together the cream of the crop of Addis Ababa’s traditional musicians. “We want to demonstrate that the immense musi- cal heritage of Ethiopia can be performed with a great degree of creativity while still maintaining its identity.”
The members of Ethiocolor play typical traditional Ethiopian instruments such as krar (five- or six-stringed bowl-shaped harp), washint (bamboo flute), kebero (goatskin drums) and masenqo (single- stringed bowed lute).
“We present the different styles of music and dances from Ethiopia, from the highlands of Tigray, Wello, Gondar and Gojam in the north to the regions of Gurage, Wolaita and Konso in the south. We play traditional songs but with our own arrangements.”
Most of the lyrics on their untitled debut album (Selam Sounds, 2014) ) are about love but they also praise the sense of community, social interdependence, unity and freedom.
“The tradition of Ethiopian music dates back to the church music of the 6th Century when Saint Yared founded the sacred music tradition of the Ethiopian Orthodox Church and Ethiopia’s system of musical notation. Instruments from those days like the krar, harp and flute are still played today.”
What makes Ethiocolor such an ener- getic band are the varied rhythmic layers, costume changes and the eskista, the famous and frenetic dance of the shoulders. Inspiration comes from traditional folk music but also from artists of the golden age of Ethiopian music.
”I learned a lot from the older Ethiopi- an artists because they were honest, gener- ous, simple and strong. My all-time hero is singer Tilahoun Gesesse, who passed away in 2009. We still miss his great voice and lyrics. My favorite female singers are Hirut Bekele, Aster Aweke and Gigi.”
“At the moment we have a lot of talent in Ethiopia like Samuel Yirga, a young piano player from Addis Ababa who is involved with the band Dub Colossus. The revival of Ethiopian roots music is due in part to Fran- cis Falceto (fR 295/6), founder of the CD series Éthiopiques, who gave young Ethiopi- ans the confidence that Ethiopia has some- thing to offer to the world.”
“Ethiopia is becoming a very developed country with fast changes. Daily life is also becoming more and more expensive. I don’t know which way Ethiopia is heading but I like the modern life in Ethiopia. But in the meantime I respect tradition”.
www.melakubelay.com F
Photo: Jylle Meilevang
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