Nadav Haber started to learn the clarinet at the age of 10. In 1988-89 he lead a qaurtet in the Tel-Aviv clubs in Israel, and played in a blues duo. In the 90's nadav has switched to the tenor sax, and began to explore Ethiopian music. He played in Ethiopian dance bands all over Israel, in Ethiopian clubs and weddings. This has lead to the issue of Ethiopian Blues, and other smaller productions that were aimed at the Ethiopian Israeli market.
In recent years Nadav moved back to playing jazz, and in 2003 led a hard bop quintet in Jerusalem. He is currently working on two projects - an Ethiopian Jazz program and a “Favorite ballads” program.
Nadav Haber Quartet - Merkato
Nadav Haber Quartet - 01 - Merkato (6:23) Nadav Haber Quartet - 02 - Revalation (8:40) Nadav Haber Quartet - 03 - Reflection (9:09) Nadav Haber Quartet - 04 - Rambling (8:33) Nadav Haber Quartet - 05 - Limbo (8:42) Nadav Haber Quartet - 06 - Sudan (6:16) Nadav Haber Quartet - 07 - Arrival (7:02) Nadav Haber Quartet - 08 - Tizita (9:03) Nadav Haber Quartet - 09 - Prayer (12:38)
Mehari Brothers is musical phenomenon, with music that defy borders and a performance that speaks to people in all walks of life and nations. The band has always followed a solitary and distinctive path with a group of educated as well as talented musicians gifted with a perfect pitch.
The band members include Henock Mehari on keys and vocals, Robel Mehari on guitar, lwam Mehari on bass, Halal Mehari on drums, Tesfamariam Elias on keys and Zelalem Nigatu on drums.
Ethiopian music history witnessed several short lived, but in one way or another extraordinary bands. After the military orchestra at the end of 1950s and the beginning of 1960s, introduced modern musical sounds for, several privately owned bands started to emerge here and there. Especially during the golden era of the Ethiopian music, the 1970s have seen bands that transformed the sound to a timeless melody.
Among these bands, many still remember Roha band. This band, for many, is answerable for shaping the entire Ethiopian modern music in its own rhythm. Considering its significant role in the over all Ethiopian modern music history, there are contradictory opinions about the band. Some blame Roha band for controlling the Ethiopian music industry in its golden era, monopolizing and limiting the sound only to its own. The 1970s Ethiopian music, one way or another was fashioned to the Roha band style and sound only.
Others differ by arguing that Roha band is the best thing that ever happened to Ethiopian music. Though several bands at the time existed in Ethiopia, none of them could compete with Roha band whether in style, sound and discipline. Roha band gained a monopoly status at the time because the members were talented young and passionate professionals who understood not only music but also the music business.
When we come to the era we are currently in, bands seem to lose their touch in the contemporary Ethiopian music. However, some bands are struggling to bring the real sound back to the audience tired of repeated computer sounds. One of these bands is Mehari Brother’s. Established six years back by four brothers, the band is unique for the Ethiopian music industry for incorporating members of the same family. Though this kind of band composition is common in other countries, Mehari Brothers are one of a kind for Ethiopia.
Mehari Brothers answered several questions in their interview with Kalkidan Magazine, an Amharic magazine that publishes twice a month. They explained several questions including the history of their establishment, the vicissitudes of their six years music togetherness, and the recent rumor that says they no longer together.
Mahari Brothers was established with the first name of their father Mehari about six years a go Henok, Luwam, Robele and Helal. Before the establishment of the band, the four brothers were musicians in their own individual paths. For example, Henok was a member of some of famous bands in Ethiopia at one particular time like Express and Afro Sound bands. The rest of the brothers were also engaged in music.
Mehari Brothers - Konjiye ቆንጂዬ
Finally, they got together and established Mehari Brother. Compare to its short-term life, the band has been a success so far. In addition to a nation wide fame, they traveled to several parts of the world and performed their music. They toured to Canada, USA, Sweden, Israel, and UAE and in Africa Tanzania, Djibouti and Kenya.
Mehari brothers say that they never had a failed concert. Every concert gave them its own success story. However, they value one particular concert more.That is the time when they performed with their childhood idol Tewodros Tadesse. With 10,000 audiences at Millennium hall, Mehari Brothers say that they saw their dream come true by having Teddy with them on the stage. They remember the concert as a monument when they realized hard work will eventually pays off.
The other concert that changed Mehari Brothers view of music business is the tour with Zeritu Kebede. The tour that covered several cities of Ethiopia and titled “Yezeritu Guzo” was one of the few times when musicians tried uninterrupted tour all over the country. Mehari Brothers say that the tour was not only enjoyable for them and for the fans but also showed them how hungry Ethiopian towns are for music.
Mehari Brothers agree that the replacement of sounds with computer technology, instead of using a real talent is actually hurting Ethiopian music. The computer makes music by different musicians sound similar, which results fed up, by the audience in a short period. They believe that the responsibility of bringing back the real creative and timeless sound relies on the current musicians including them. One of the few regrets they have so far in their six years band history is that they did not make an album with a full band. However, they say it is not late and they are working on it currently.
The brothers address the rumor that they do not exist as a band any more. Accordingly, the gossip is not true and the band is in a stronger shape as always. They say Mhari Brothers is not owned only be blood related family members but also by many musicians which made it create its own line of family. So far, except one of the brothers Helal who is no longer in the band because he is in school, the band is tact and the members have a smooth relationship. The brothers believe that the band established it self strongly and it will continue even if they are no longer members for whatever reason.
The brothers dream of contributing their share to Ethiopian music by making true, creative and timeless sounds. Currently they are planning to work with the new music sensation Haile Rutes and Abenet Agonafer. In addition, they say they have different albums that will be released when the timing is rights.
Mathias Makonnenstarted music at the age of 16 with his friends: Abegaz, Henock, Minassie, Mebratou and Abiy.
The late Genene Nebebe was the pioneer person in bringing Mathias into the Music world.
Teodros Desta soon after, offered Mathias to join the Sevans Band upon Mathias' Return from overseas studies.
In 1989, after migrating to the USA, Mathias was approached by legendary singer and song writer, Aster Aweke, to join her Band in Washington D.C. with Teodros Mitiku(Sax) and Mesfin GM(Bass).
Mathias continued backing Aster Aweke in the 1989 International Music Fest at the Brooklyn Academy of Music, hosted by David Sanborne.
Mathias still performs with legendary and upcoming singers world-wide.
Temesgen was born and raised in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. He has studied with Alemayehu Fanta and Teshome Shenkute at the Yared School of Music in Addis Ababa. It is Temesgen's dream to keep alive the ancient musical traditions of Ethiopia. He is in the process of setting up a school to teach the Begena and the Krar.
"Listen to the stark, haunting sounds of traditional Ethiopian music and you will be elevated to a place free from worries and strife. The wisdom and knowledge of centuries of culture are communicated by the nimble fingers and resonant voice of Temesgen. Temesgen sings songs of life, of love and of devotion. Deeply spiritual, with the simple truth of folk music, sanded and distilled by generations of musicians, these songs have evolved over the ages to shine with the pristine beauty of the very roots "
- liner notes from Begena Bedtimes (2006).
A versatile singer-songwriter, Temesgen has begun to explore the frontiers of ethio-fusion. His non-traditional work is a soulful stew of reggae, ethiopian, and jazz. He is currently working on Begena Fusion, an album that features the begena in a modern milieu. And, Krarization a collection of popular contemporary songs re-interpreted with the help of the krar. Temesgen has also created instructional DVDs on how to play the krar and the begena.
Ali Birra (standing in the middle) and his band mates in Jimma, Western Ethiopia, 1973
Ali Birra (Amharic: አሊ ቢራ? ; Oromo: Ali Birraa: born September 29, 1947) is an internationally recognized Oromo singer, composer, poet and nationalist. He was born in Ganda Kore village in the city of Dire Dawa, Ethiopia.
For several decades from the mid-60’s and onwards, Ali Birra was the most prominent representative of modern Oromo music. He was part of a golden generation of Ethiopian musicians, performing with the greatest artists and orchestras of the time but being Oromo he was always an outsider in relation to the Amharic musicians of his time. Yet for many Oromos, he was a hero, fighting their cause at a time where the promotion of Oromo culture was illegal and singing in Oromo language banned.
Ali Birra left Ethiopia in 1984 and has since been back only sporadically. But he has not been forgotten. Heading for lunch we tried in vain to find a restaurant where devoted fans would not overwhelm Ali. Throughout the day his phone was red-hot with new and old friends checking in and while driving around Addis with Ali, we were met by a continuous honking and passengers shouting ’we love you Ali’ through the car windows. This was Addis 2012 but felt more like driving around with FelaKuti in Lagos in the 70’s.
Ali Birra - Nin deema
Ali has returned home to Ethiopia to launch his own NGO called Birra Children’s Education Fund. He wants to give something back to Ethiopia and has started support programmes for children in one school in Dire Dawa and one in Galamso in West Hararge. “My father always told me that educated people know how to fight for their rights and to respect the rights of others,’’ Ali explains. He now hopes to expand the programme to other schools around the country.
He has also come back to Ethiopia for musical reasons. In 2013, Ali is celebrating his 50-year anniversary on the music scene and he is planning to commemorate this landmark with concerts in Addis and at home turf in Dire Dawa as well as with the release of one final record before retiring.
“I was lucky to be singer at a time with few Oromo singers around. I got the chance to influence people and their thinking. To be a teacher.To engrave my thoughts in peoples’ minds. The young Oromo musicians now are tough but they have not achieved this yet,” Ali tells me. And things certainly were tough in Dire Dawa in the early 60’s when Ali aged 14 at the time formed his first band HiriyaaJaalalaa and soon after started performing with the group called AfranQallo orUrjiBachalchaa. Being an Oromo musician back then was risky business. Singing in Oromifa was illegal and the band members handed out their records to people on the streets as no Oromo music was allowed on the radio. “We were very young and courageous at that time,” Ali admits.
The emergence of AfranQallo can be considered an early dawn for modern Oromo music and it was at a concert with this group that Ali earned himself his screen name – Birra meaning ‘spring’ or ‘break of dawn’ in Oromifa – through the singing of the ’BirradhaBarihe’ song. In 1964, the group was invited to play in neighbouring Djibouti but the 11 band members were denied permission to leave Ethiopia and had their music instruments destroyed. They decided to split in smaller fractions and travel anyway but when Ali arrived in Djibouti, he was arrested and detained for a month. On New Year’s Eve of 1964, Ali and three of his band members returned to Ethiopia and the next day, January 1st 1965, they were again arrested. Ali who had now turned 16 spent the next six months in prison, jailed for singing in his own language and celebrating his culture. “I still remember it vividly. From that time on I knew that I wanted to fight for the rights of my people,” he recounts.
After his release Ali was still detained on numerous occasions, sometimes for weeks, sometimes for months, until he in 1966 left Dire Dawa for Addis. But although he left Oromia and 20 years later left Ethiopia, Ali has never stopped being a strong and outspoken Oromo advocate. Seven years ago he met with the late Ethiopian Prime Minister MelesZenawi to discuss various Oromo issues and he has often encouraged the federal government to support arts and culture in Oromia by establishing a music school in the region.
Many of Ali’s early lyrics were strongly inspired by the revolutionary Oromo poet Abubakar Musaa. But singing in Oromifa was only one of the ways that Ali tried to distinguish his music from the dominant Amharic sound. He and fellow Oromo musicians used grace notes and played in diatonic instead of pentatonic scales creating a less Amharic and more Indian or Arabian sound. “Nowadays Oromo music sounds similar to the Amharic,” Ali deplores. But simultaneously he praises the many new Oromo musicians: “Back then it was mostly Ali Shebbo and I. Now you have new Oromo singers coming forth almost every day,” he says and starts listing some of his favourite heirs such as Tadele Gemechu, Jambo Jote, Qamar Yusuf, Hachalu Hundessa and Elemo Ali among others.
While there truly are many talented young Oromo musicians out there, none of them have carved out a sound as unique as the one that characterizes many of Ali’s recordings from the 60’s and 70’s: the one of a guitar tuned as an oud. This was a sound crafted under rather peculiar circumstances. Ali and his childhood friend Ali Shebbo had learned to play the oud in Dire Dawa. In 1966, when Ali Birra went to an audition for Emperor Haile Selassie’s Imperial Body Guard Band, he was asked if he played any instruments. He replied that he played the oud but was then told they did not have an oud in Addis. Instead Ali was given a guitar, which he tuned like an oud because that was what he knew the best. Thus, the inimitable Ali Birra sound was born.
He has since tried to remain true to that sound. When I ask him about his musical philosophy, he explains: “I believe in small incremental changes to my music while staying faithful to its origins. I have tried to use new technological means while respecting the past. When I left Ethiopia, I was lucky to get the chance to study music in the US. It made me able to better analyse music and its scales. At the same time I can play many different instruments. Many new musicians today are only vocalists or they can only play one instrument.“
Ali describes, how at first the audience was not really able to understand his Eastern Oromo dialect but when he started singing a classic Arabic song praising the prophet Mohamed, the crowd went berserk and started throwing money at the band. Ali repeated the song and in the end the floor was covered with money. The group was originally paid 400 birr to play the concert but ended up earning close to 10,000 birr that single night
In 1977, Ali joined the renowned all-star Ibex band and in 1980 the Ethio Star Band. Nevertheless, Ali also had his difficulties this time around: “When I joined the Ibex Band, I was disarmed my guitar. I was told that my guitar style did not match their vocal so I was left with singing together with Mahmoud Ahmed. At least, this gave me a bit more freedom to be a performer.” Some of the more serious artistic restrictions came from the Derg regime. “There was a lot of censorship during public concerts and the majority of the songs we recorded had to include some praise of socialism, Marxism or Leninism”, he elaborates.
The night before Ali in 1984 left Ethiopia, he played with the Ethio Star Band at a wedding at the Hilton. “I never get paid for that job,” he notes. A few years earlier, Ali had met and married a diplomat named BrigittaAlstrom working at the Swedish Embassy. When Brigitta’s posting in Ethiopia ended, she was transferred to Los Angeles and Ali decided to follow his wife to the US. “My motivations for leaving Ethiopia were mixed. I wanted to be with my wife, to escape the harassment of the regime and to explore new opportunities abroad.”
In the US, Ali studied music theory at the university and used most weekends touring the US and Canada with fellow Ethiopian diaspora musicians. Diplomatic life later brought Ali to Saudi Arabia and Sweden and he continued to perform and record music throughout this period. Ali now resides in Canada with his wife Lily.
Ali Birra with Ibex Band - 01 - Asa Bela (4:25)
Ali Birra with Ibex Band - 02 - Turun Bula (5:46)
Ali Birra with Ibex Band - 03 - Tola-Tola (7:47)
Ali Birra with Ibex Band - 04 - Adu-Golegolasa (3:36)
Ali Birra with Ibex Band - 05 - Dira Dawa (4:14)
Ali Birra with Ibex Band - 06 - Bilusuma (7:38)
Ali Birra with Ibex Band - 07 - Yaleselesa (5:07)
Ali Birra with Ibex Band - 08 - Yedenka (6:14)
Ali Birra with Ibex Band - 09 - Bilasawa (With Mahmoud Ahmed) (6:25)
