Teshome Mitiku - Yesterday and Today [1999]

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       Teshome Mitiku's career stretches back to Addis Ababa, where he began performing at local schools and nightclubs when he was just a teenager.

       In the late 60's, singer and keyboardist Teshome Mitiku; Teshome's brother and alto saxophonist, Theodros "Teddy" Mitiku; trumpeter Tamrat Ferendji; bassist Fekade Amde-Meskel; drummer Tesfaye Mekonnen; guitarist Alula Yohannes and singer Seifu Yohannes, joined to form the influential Soul Ekos Band. The band released numerous songs, including four hits written by Teshome: Gara Ser New Betesh, Yezemed Yebada, Mot Adeladlogn and Hasabe.

       He fled from Addis Ababa to Sweden at the peak of his musical career in 1969 after the government endorsed a strict, mandatory night curfew, which prevented him from performing at local venues. A few years later, Emperor Haile Selassie was overthrown in a coup d'etat by the Dergue regime, Teshome permanently moved to Sweden in 1970 and enrolled at the Music Conservatory in Malmo. He started performing with a 12-piece, jazz band, called Tolvan. He then switched gears and enrolled at Lund University, where he received his Masters of Arts in Sociology.

During a brief visit in the 80's to the United States, Teshome collaborated with the Admas Band and released "Teshome Mitiku and His Experience," an album full of jazzy tracks like Mengezem Hulgezem and Almazeye.
He relocated to the United States in 1990 and released the critically acclaimed album, "Yegna Neger" with favorites like Photoyen Ayechew and Che Belew.
In 1994, Teshome also collaborated with Mulatu Astatke. He wrote the Wello Song (Pearl of Ethiopia) on Mulatu Astatke's "Assiyo Bellama" album.
He coordinated with various Ethiopian artists in 1996 and formed the first Ethiopian Music Association, where they teamed up to perform at various fundraisers, including the Kennedy Center, to raise money for orphanages in Ethiopia.
His third album "Gara Ser New Betish" was released in 1997 with splendid tracks like Satenow and Bechegnaw.
Four of the songs that were originally recorded with the Soul Ekos Band and Teshome were re-released on "Ethiopiques Vol. 1" in 1998.
Teshome released his fourth album in 1999, "Yesterday & Today" with saxophonist and brother, Teddy Mitiku with remastered hits like Alemazeye and Che Belew .

Teshome Mitiku and Either Orchestra at the Chicago Jazz Festival, September 2010

                  
       In 2002, Either/Orchestra released "Afro-Cubism," a six-track album with an interpretation of Teshome's "Yezemed Yebada."
Teshome's fifth album, Topia's Deluge was released on May 9th, 2006 and his most recent recording, "Zemen" was released in 2009.
Atletu, an indepedent film released in 2009, features "Yezemed  Yebada."