Led by Ethiopian-American saxophonist Danny Mekonnen and fronted by magnetic singer Bruck Tesfaye, Debo Band infuses its dance-friendly songs with the Ethiopian pop and funk music of the 1960s and ’70s. But historical accuracy is not a primary goal here.

Instead, this vibrant 11-member group collects its influences like trading cards: It finds common ground in jazz, classic soul, psychedelic rock and New Orleans party bands, playing with song forms, manipulating rhythms and finding space for improvisation. Plus, the fact that the band is signed to Sub Pop — a label more known for indie-rock and pop — represents something of a statement. Debo Band is a rock group first and foremost, and one that can bring joyful intensity to listeners who might not otherwise naturally gravitate to this music. It’s a winning cross-cultural stew of sounds that grabs you instantly, and ought to have you bobbing along and sweaty in no time.

Set List:

• “Ney Ney Weleba”

Credits:

Producers: Bob Boilen, Mito Habe-Evans, Saidah Blount; Editor: Michael Katzif; Videographers: Katie Hayes Luke, Michael Katzif, Mito Habe-Evans; Audio Engineer: Kevin Wait; photo by Katie Hayes Luke/NPR

አዲካ ለሙዚቃ ቤቶቹ እያንዳንዱን ሲዲ በብር 17.50 እያንዳንዱን ካሴት ደግሞ በዘጠኝ ብር ሲያስረክብ፣ ገበያው ውስጥ አንዱ ሲዲ 25 ብር አንዱ ካሴት ደግሞ 13 ብር እየተሸጠ ይገኛል፡፡ ምንም እንኳ አንዱ ሲዲ በተወሰነለት ዋጋ እንዲሸጥ ቢታሰብም በየመንገዱ እስከ ሃምሳ ብር እንደተሸጠ ታውቋል፡፡

አዲካ ከሳምንት ባነሰ ጊዜ ውስጥ ከሽያጮቹ 6.3 ሚሊዮን ብር ያገኘ ሲሆን፣ ቀሪው ገንዘብ ደግሞ ለሙዚቃ ቤቶቹና መንገድ ላይ ለሚሸጡ ገቢ ይሆናል፡፡ አልበሙ ከወጣበት ሚያዝያ 6 ቀን 2004 ዓ.ም. ጀምሮ በብዛት እየተሸጠ መሆኑም ታውቋል፡፡
በተለይም አልበሙ በወጣበት ሚያዝያ 6 ቀን በርካታ ሰዎች በሙዚቃ ቤቶች ደጃፍ ወረፋ ሲጠብቁና ሌሎችም መንገድ ላይ ካሉ ሻጮች በጭማሪ ዋጋ ሲገዙ ታይተዋል፡፡

‹‹በተለያዩ ሚዲያዎች የሙዚቃ አፍቃሪያን ከተወሰነው ዋጋ በላይ አውጥተው አልበሙን እንዳይገዙ ብናስታውቅም፣ አንዳንድ ነጋዴዎች እጥረት ያለ አስመስለው ከተተመነው ዋጋ በላይ ሲሸጡ ነበር፤›› በማለት የአዲካ ዋና ሥራ አስኪያጅ አቶ አሸናፊ ዘለቀ ገልጸዋል፡፡

አቶ አሸናፊ ለሪፖርተር እንዳስረዱት፣ 500 ሺሕ ሲዲዎችና 200 ሺሕ ካሴቶች ሙዚቃ ቤቶቹ እንደሚያስፈልጋቸው በመጀመርያ ስላስታወቁ አልበሙ አሁንም እየታተመ ነው፡፡

ከዚህም በተጨማሪ አልበሙ በአዲካ ወኪሎች በኩል በውጭ አገር በመሸጥ ላይ ቢሆንም፣ አቶ አሸናፊ ግን ምን ያህል ኮፒዎች አንደተሸጡ ገና አልታወቀም ብለዋል፡፡

ከአሁን ቀደም ለገበያ ከቀረቡ የሙዚቃ ሥራዎች ከፍተኛ ሽያጭ በማስመዝገብ የአገሪቱን ሬከርድ ይዟል የተባለለት የቴዲ አፍሮ አልበም መሆኑን በሙዚቃው ዘርፍ ውስጥ ያሉ ይስማማሉ፡፡ ሳምንት ባልሞላ ጊዜ እንኳን 300 ሺሕ ሲዲ መሸጥ ይቅርና ኦሪጂናል አልበም ለመሸጥ ከፍተኛ ችግር እንደነበር በሙዚቃ ዘርፍ ውስጥ ያሉ ይስማሙበታል፡፡

በተለይም ከቅጂ መብት ጥሰት ጋር በተያያዘ በርካታ የሙዚቃ ሰዎች ተስፋ እስከ መቁረጥ መድረሳቸውም ይታወሳል፡፡ ስማቸው እንዲገለጽ ያልፈለጉ አንድ የሙዚቃ ባለሙያ፣ ‹‹የቴዲ አፍሮ አልበም ሽያጭ የአገሪቱ ሬከርድ ሲሆን፣ ምናልባት ለኢትዮጵያ ሙዚቃ ኢንዱስትሪም ዓይን ከፋች ሊሆን ይችላል፤›› ብለዋል፡፡ አልበሙ በሕዝብ ዘንድ ከፍተኛ ተቀባይነት ቢያገኝም እሳቸው ግን በግላቸው የተለየ አመለካከት እንዳላቸው ገልጸው፣ ዝርዝር ውስጥ ገብተው ከመናገር እንደሚቆጠቡ አስረድተዋል፡፡ ‹‹ሕዝብ ሆ ብሎ የተቀበለውን ነገር ለመተቸት መነሳት ለጊዜው አስፈላጊ አይደለም፤›› ሲሉ አክለዋል፡፡

Bringing contemporary and classical jazz, celebrated pop songs from the golden era of Ethiopian music, traditional Ethiopian rhythms and deeply-felt classical piano undertones, this young man from Addis has opened up a whole new door on a musical genre and region which has already grabbed the interest of many people around the world.

Samuel was just ten years old when he knew he wanted to become a musician. At home he devoured the Ethiopian pop music and American R and B that he heard on the radio and cassettes but he had no encouragement from his parents who were afraid that learning music would distract him from his academic studies. One day, however, he heard that Addis Ababa’s Yared School of Music was holding auditions for new students. The following week, at the age of 16, against his parents’ wishes and having never touched a musical instrument in his life, Samuel entered the school and, with a coin tapping out rhythms on the top of the piano, breezed through the exams. Of the 2,500 people who took the exam, Samuel came third.

Samuel Yirga – Live at Momo (London) from Enchanted Tunes on Vimeo.

But the struggles weren’t over. His parents eventually forgave him but it was one of the school’s teachers who put up his next hurdle. “Because I came third in the exams,” he says, smiling wryly at the memory, “I was allowed to choose whatever instrument I liked. I chose the piano.” But the head of department looked at his hands and said it wasn’t possible. “She said my hands were too small. I don’t believe in small hands or big hands: music is not about that, music is about what’s inside.” Samuel was undaunted. Eventually, the school agreed he could study the piano that he’d so longed to get his hands on. And there began a relationship with the instrument that has brought him to musical acclaim in his hometown of Addis and now, with his debut album, to an international audience. He was determined, after all the obstacles he’d already mounted, that he was going to be the best pianist in Ethiopia.

Samuel took to his new instrument with unbridled enthusiasm and dedication. “I would go to school at 6.30am and at 11 pm I would go home. Usually I missed all my other studies and just played the piano on my own. It was really tiring,” he laughs, “but it was my dream to be in music, and the piano was what I wanted to play, so that’s why I pushed myself so hard.” Samuel played like this, for more than 12 hours a day, for three years. “I was so into the music,” he says, “that I didn’t bother eating.”

Samuel played the classical music he was given by his teachers but he also had a growing interest in Ethiopian music, from the popular wedding and folk songs he’d heard as a child, to the Ethio-jazz legends that, in the last decade, had made a comeback. Here he found himself once more in trouble with the school.

“I was playing my own versions of these Ethiopian songs, but the teachers passing the piano room would come in and ask me what I was doing. We weren’t allowed to play any contemporary music because it was a classical music school. They would say that Ethiopian music was simple. I was very angry about that, because I’d always had a dream to change my country and its music. I didn’t agree with them but I would just tell them that if something was simple, then we should try to make it better. We need to research and experiment.”

And experiment he did. By the time the music school asked him never to come back because of his insistence on playing contemporary music, he was playing funk and Ethiojazz with one band, playing jazz gigs at a local club, experimenting with popular Ethiopian songs and creating contemporary versions with another band, and at the same playing salsa and classical music. Wherever his music went, however, he always held the beat of Ethiopian music at its heart. Samuel plays with Addis funk band, Nubian Arc and is a member of the UK/Ethiopian collective, Dub Colossus.

Samuel’s debut album is the product of his years experimenting with the music of his roots and the outside influences of jazz, Latin, and classical music. It explores the traditional musical history of his homeland, ventures into big-band brass ensembles, moves through soul and funk, and then simmers with the deeply impassioned solo piano tracks. While the latter can be introspective, he carries with him some great singers and instrumentalists, from Ethiopia, Europe and the Caribbean.

 Featured vocalists are the Creole Choir of Cuba, a Cuban choir whose songs go back to their Haitian roots; Mel Gara, a British singer whose origins are in Iraq; and Nicolette, a Nigerian-British singer, famous for her collaborations with Massive Attack. The album is produced by Nick Page, the British musician and producer behind Transglobal Underground, Syriana and Dub Colossus.

It was difficult news to digest and hard to accept that the people she had called parents had adopted her. Betelhem’s immediate next question of course, was to ask who her father was. For the answer, her mother, living in the U.S, asked her to wait until she arrived in Ethiopia.

After hearing this news, Betelhem was sure more surprises were in store for her. Her mother gave birth to her when she was a teenager, having met an African American man at a party, who came to Ethiopia for UN meetings.

The pair ended up having a one night stand, after which Betelhem’s mother fell pregnant. She didn’t have any contact details about him; not even knowing how his name was spelt. She had to finish classes so the baby was given to an extended family that was willing to take her.

“Every man can be a potential father” Biruktawit Mengistu commented, when questioned about her one night stand experiences. Biruktawit grew up in a conservative, orthodox culture where she saw sex as a sacred union and something that does not occur before marriage. Her belief was deeply rooted for sometime. After graduating from University and starting work she saw her friends having sexual partners but she was very persistent in her belief and still believed nothing could change it until she met ‘Mr Perfect.’

But meeting the right person started to shade away and the assumption she had nurtured for years began to seem a mere fairytale. The more she read, the more she forgot and left behind her beliefs of ‘traditional customs. Finally she planned to experience a modern approach herself. “It was a very conscious decision I made,” explained Biruktawit.

Biruktawit did not care who she slept with and ended up sleeping with a guy she barely knew. “I just wanted to break this bondage and get it over with. It was only physical and that was what happened,” Biruktwait said.

After the first night she didn’t even want to see the guy intimately or socially. Although her one night stands are infrequent, she engages in booty calls; relationships only for sexual purposes.

According to Biruktawit, for many centuries men have been having one night stands, with no strings attached so for a change she decided to live her life in the same way: without regrets and social constraints. “For many years women’s sexuality were suppressed and society, our environment put us in this imprisonment,” Biruktawit explained. “I know there is no absolute freedom but there is what you call relative freedom. And doing what I want made me feel sexually liberated,” she said. Being a hardcore feminist as she claims, Biruktawit usually picks up a man from a club or a bar, pays for the drinks and ends up taking them home. “This is usually done by men and it kind of shows the power relation,” Biruktawit said. “I wanted to be like the man for a change and do what they do without strings attached, only physical,” she said.
Despite Biruktawit’s claims over her actions having no strings attached, in the past she has had incidents where she ended up emotionally attached to the person, feeling she wanted to call them again and keep them in her life. “When I meet a guy I let them know it’s only a hookup; there is nothing more, so I don’t call them or discuss about past relationships or life in general. But sometimes there are exceptions,” Biruktawit told The Reporter. Sometimes, Biruktawit further explained, she realizes the risks of her actions, such as if the condom was to break and she might end up carrying the child of a man who she does not even recall. Furthermore, she explains that although she is fully aware of what she is doing, the next day she still sometimes feels remorse and regret. There are days where she believes sex is actually intended as a component of pair-bonding, which is entwined with emotional well-being.

Many people engage in one night stands, or what Biruktawit terms as a ‘modern day relationship.’

Many films and music exemplify the contemporary trend of city life including Keri Hilson’s song, One Night Stand and the 1997 film of the same name.

Many agree that the one night stand is not a new phenomenon, although the name might be new, but in this age it is made easy with the coming of different contraceptives and people promoting the idea to experience one’s sexual curiosity.

With the fading of religion and moral values, culture or tradition it is becoming common to experience taboo matters. And its not just partaken by those that are single: married couples do it too, for many reasons. Many one night stands happen in occasions at cubs, bars, or trips concerning business, conferences, vacation.

There are typical trends as to how one night stands come about; when a couple meet they don’t talk about their backgrounds or past, it just begins and ends simultaneously. People should opt not to feel anything, no words of love, no futurity. Amazingly, sometime the couple don’t even discover each other’s names.

Demsew Mengistu is now in a serious relationship but has no regrets over his past and he reminisces over the frequent one night stands he had over the years. He tells The Reporter of how he used to do this very often, disregarding the place. Demsew comments that the common trend in Addis Ababa is for people to do it when they get drunk, especially during the night. For Demsew, it doesn’t make a difference whether he is sober or drunk. He has many ‘adventurous’ stories to tell and talking about it among friends made it more fun. Over the years Demsew has had too many one night stands to count, but he remembers the last girl he met before falling in love with his current girlfriend.

Demsew was sitting in a café drinking coffee, when without realizing, he was staring at a girl who was sitting in front and she was returning his gaze. After staring at her for some time without saying a word, Demsew left the café and surprisingly, she followed him and the pair ended up in a nearby pension. When they were walking along the road they were very quiet and simply listened to their footsteps. Then they arrived in the room of a pension and didn’t even remove their clothes fully. After finishing, they left the place in the same manner they entered. Demsew did not even know her name would not recognize the girl if he saw her again. “My current girlfriend knows that I dated a couple of girls before but she had no idea about these stories,” Demsew said.

For James Nicholas, picking up a girl to have sex with is merely a daily routine. He usually meets girls in a club or in a bar and people know him because he is a famous singer, which makes it easy for him.

“Usually if I want to have a one night stand I kind of dance with them so I can tell with the dance if they are kind of one night stand girls or not otherwise I wouldn’t waste my time,” Nicholas said. He further told The Reporter that when most of his friends want to have sex, they will make the person they make them drunk or intoxicated but Nicolas doesn’t agree with this. “It’s like using that person,” he said. “The other thing is, if they are drunk or passed out its like making love to a dead person.”

For Nicolas, one incident stands out in particular. While he was standing with his friends in a bar, a girl approached him, asking him to buy her a drink; which he did. The girl then told Nicolas she had seen him before. When he was ready to leave she asked him if she could come with him, although knowing that he lived far away. Driving home, he describes how not a word was spoken, both simply contemplating in their mind how it would be. When they reached home he planned to turn on the TV and get comfortable on the couch but when he turned to face her she was naked. “I have never met anyone in my life who could undress this fast. Then we did it,” reminisced Nicholas.

Although he claims he can do it without any strings attached, there are moments during which the person can transcend than the physical. “Usually one night stands don’t go far but sometimes if it is worth while it will lead to a ‘booty call’,” Nicholas explained.

For Martha Kebede, her main upset is men excoriating women when they sleep around, whilst they are able to brag about it, getting the name ‘player.’ Although having only had a single one night stand in her life that she regrets that she believed there should be a liberty to do anything. She says she is not a type of girl who goes out and ends up in a bed with a random guy. But once she went out with her friends and a drunken man initiated conversation with her. Although she says he was irresistible, he was talking nonsense so she ignored him. Three or four months later she ran into the same man at an event. They greeted each other but didn’t talk and after a month she again ran in to him but this time he was with group of friend she knew. They went to the guy’s house and started talking about ‘silly stuff’ then they went outside and started making out which lead to sex. She still doesn’t understand why she acted so fast. She didn’t see the man again and still now has mixed feelings about the night. “It was one of those days where you do stuff to get it out of your system. Even if you say you don’t want anything more than physical relations it’s hard to forget what you did because somebody got into your body. I don’t think this is a simple thing to forget,” Martha said.

Although Martha believes in human liberty she also strongly believes women shouldn’t see these unhealthy issues in men all the time, and shouldn’t feel less than a man. And women should put into consideration the risks of sexual assault, abortion, undesired pregnancies and STDs including HIV/AIDS.

The narcissism, insecurity, and self-loathing that are associated with women who play around do not fit Biruktawit. She rejects the conventional gender roles and despises the assumption that govern female sexuality in the society even if some call it ‘sex-positive feminism’ she is determined to follow her freewill and do whatever it takes.

Ed’s Note: All names in this article have been changed.

The search for a dog provides an exceptional insight into Ethiopia’s capital. Friends, street kids and a film crew go in search of ‘Leman’ who is missing in a city full of stray dogs. Do we believe what we see? Shot in ten days with the help of the local population.

 Her demeanor is one of defiance – defiance against the forces of nature that rendered her unable to produce the melodies that won her the heart and minds of the Ethiopian music lovers across generations. She was hopeful though, in the face of adversities, and put her faith in the almighty to get yet another chance to play the instrument that she treasured throughout her life. Asnaketch’s   yearning did not materialize. She succumbed to her ailment. She passed away on September 15, 2011. Her works celebrate the life of an artist that lived life passionately and glamorously.

The late Ethiopian Asnakech Worku was born in 1931, in Addis Abeba. Her artistic journey dates back to the reign of Emperor Haile Selassie I. Asnakech accompanies herself on the Krar, the small Ethiopian lyre. She bought her first instrument for 25 Cents when she was a child and learned how to play the instrument by watching the Azmari, the Ethiopian musicians that are sometimes compared with the minnesingers and troubadours of the European Middle Ages.

Asnakech began performing in small bars and cabarets. But before starting her career as a famous singer and musician, she first started to work as an actress and dancer at the City Hall Theatre in 1952 and later on in 1955 at the Haile Selassie I Theatre, where she started to sing and play the Krar beside her work as an actress. There she worked until her retirement in the late 80s.

At that time, Asnakech was the first actress in Ethiopia and the only famous woman beside Mary Armede who played the Krar. For many years she was recognized to be one of the greatest Krar players in Ethiopia. She became the most famous traditional female musician in her home country.

Asnaketch was one of the very few artists that helped to develop the Ethiopian cultural scene and deeply influenced it. She was highly respected by the modern artists and the people of her home country.

Asnakech’s songs became a part of the rich repertoire of folk songs in Ethiopia. Hits like Ende Jerusalem are still sung by many Ethiopian artists. And there is something very special to report about Asnakech Worku: in the male dominated world of African master musicians, she was an unassailable authority.

Asnakech did numerous LP and Cassette recordings in Ethiopia. She also recorded and released a CD in Germany, in 1996, while she was touring Europe.

She had traveled throughout the entire world and performed in many different countries. Josephine Kronfli & Pit Budde, members of the Band “Karibuni” invited her several times to Germany and had the great opportunity to accompany her during her tours.

Asnakech had been suffering from rheumatoid arthritis fot the last five years.

“Do you know where I was born?”, he asked with an intriguing voice that resonated well beyond the drums and bass that seemed to overwhelm him.”

 I was born in Harar”, he answered his own question.

There was a sudden pause as the audience was trying to guess as to where this was heading to.

“Do you know where I was raised?” he goes again. ” I was raised in Asmara.”  He said he was going to play Bob Marley’s “One Love” - one of the most remembered works of a legend whose departure from this planet came at a point when his vision of One World, One Love — inspired by his belief in Rastafari — was beginning to be heard and felt.

Bob’s story is that of an archetype, which is why it continues to have such a powerful and ever-growing resonance: it embodies political repression, metaphysical and artistic insights, gangland warfare and various periods of mystical wilderness.

And here comes our own Eyob Mekonnen, giving his audience a glimpse into his own life, relating to the vision of an icon, relaying a powerful message vindicating the essence of Bob Marley’s calling on earth. In Eyob, we see the flicker of an all encompassing love and sense of belogingness which transcends beyond our greed and pettiness. In his words, we hear the voice of an artist trying to evoke the emotions that we choose to sidestep and the shared values which we usually tend to overlook.

This was the setting of the music concert that was staged in Washington DC last Saturday September 3, 2010 at DC Star nightclub featuring three  heavyweights in modern Ethiopian music.

The event was hugely anticipated for a number of reasons. The fact that the show would informally end the festive summer season here in the nations capital, bracing up Washingtonians for the onset of winter not to mention the popularity of the artists had made turn out reasonably huge.

The DJ entertained the audience well into midnight. The opening act was Tibebu Workiye who hit the stage around 12:30. He played some of his colorful dance numbers rousing the audience to their delight.

The next act was Helen Berhe who has been touring the US for the most part of the last few months. Impeccably dressed for the occasion, her sensual moves lifted the audeince. She played some of her popular numbers which among others included “Ouzaza alena” – a Sudanese amharic song that shot her into national stardom.

Eyob Mekonnen, who was the last in the lineup was clearly a favorite as the atmosphere dramatically changed as soon as he hit the stage. Many people, including myself, were ecstatic when watching him in concert as his CD has been our number one choice for sometime now. His works that blend mainstream ethiopian melodies with classic reggae are the most sucessfull to date.  His first performance was “Tiwedegnalech” - she likes/loves me- a song that chronicles the unconditional love that a woman bestows upon a man.

 ”Nekichalew” – I have woken up- potrays the ultimate quest for true love that turned out to be a bliss. In this number Eyob tells us that true love knows who it pursues;  methaphorically depicting it as a virtue that delineates good from evil.

 

Eyob also played Bob Marley’s “War” – another timeless song that has been one the most popular works of the legend.

One can truly see that Eyob is a real artist with an immense talent to weave reggae music into contemporary Ethiopian rythms. There is an unequivocal depth to him and his music. The issues that he addresses in his music, his sheer love for humanity and his persona cumulatively set a higher standard in contemporary Ethiopian music.