In 2004, Teddy released his most successful single to date, Tarik Teserra ("History was Made"), in honor of of world record holder and 2004 Olympic gold medalist, Kenenisa Bekele. The song captured the emotions of the entire Ethiopian nation. A music video was compiled including footage from other great Ethiopian long distance runners, and of Bekele's 10,000 meter gold run in the 2004 summer Olympics. Throughout the video, Bekele is referred to as the new Anbessa ("Lion") in Ethiopian long distance running, succeeding the great Haile Gebrselassie. Bekele is shown several times looking back for his mentor Haile Gebrselassie, who was unable to run the 10,000 meter race at full pace due to a lingering injury.
The single raised Afro's reputation as one of the greatest Ethiopian musical artists of his time, and heightened the release of his second album.
Yosef Gebre is an Ethiopian singer. He is popularly known as Jossy. He is born June 16, 1981 in Dilla, Ethiopia.
Gebre was born in 1981 in Dilla, Ethiopia to Woizero Zermechi Argaw and Ato Gebre Sherga. He attended elementary school at the local Mekane Yesus School. After 6th grade, Jossy moved to Adama and attended the Nazreth #3 Elementary and Junior School. He then completed High School at Adama High School.
Jossy has been interested in music since childhood. He participated in different art projects while in elementary school. In Adama high school he worked as a school journalist and DJ presenting shows on the school PA system (known as Adama MiniMedia) during breaks. After completion of High School Jossy went into business following in the foot steps of his parents. During that time he spent his free time contributing pieces to different news papers and taking music lessons.
While taking music lessons, Jossy started networking with musicians. He also began exploring his potential as a vocalist during this period. Jossy released his first single titled "Kine" to the public via radio stations. The work was unexpectedly well received by the public.
Encouraged by this success, Jossy started pursuing a music career full-time since 2004. His single titled "Enja Yene" was his first release, complete with music video. In 2005, Jossy was nominated for the Kora All Africa Music Awards under the Most Promising Artist category. While all these were singles, he released his first album titled "Jossy", containing 13 tracks, in 2006. The album featured the song titled "Metahuwa".
In 2008, the music video titled "Bati be Jossy Mood" hit TV channel and online video sharing sites and immediately became a hit. This success was due to the combination of careful planning of its elements and proper and professional application of video effects and techniques.
Jossy creates most of his songs himself. He currently tours different cities all over the world.
Debo Band is a 11-piece Ethio-groove collective that has quickly earned an ever-growing and enthusiastic following in the loft spaces, neighborhood bars, and church basements of Boston, MA (USA) performing for American, and Ethiopian and Eritrean communities. Since 2006, Debo Band has been immersed in the unlikely confluence of traditional East African polyrhythms and pentatonic scales, classic American soul and funk music, and the instrumentation of Eastern European brass bands, which produced a unique form of dance music that Ethiopian audiences instantly recognize as the soundtrack of their youth, carried from party to kitchen on the ubiquitous cassette tapes of the time. And increasingly, erudite American and European audiences are also getting hip to the Ethiopian groove, largely through CD reissues of Ethiopian classics on the Ethiopiques series.
With a unique instrumentation – including horns, strings, and accordion – that is a nod to the big bands of Haile Selassie’s time, Debo Band is carrying the torch of classic Ethiopian music by giving new life to these old sounds. Their lead vocalist, Bruck Tesfaye, has the kind of pipes that reverberate with the sound of beloved Ethiopian vocalists like Mahmoud Ahmed and Alemayehu Eshete. But Debo Band is not content simply “covering” the older styles – they also perform original compositions and new arrangements of songs from modern and contemporary artists such as Teddy Afro and Roha Band. Their expansive repertoire and spirited performances have earned them respect and recognition, leading to concert opportunities such as opening for legendary Ethiopian greats Tilahun Gessesse and Getatchew Mekuria.
Danny Mekonnen, an Ethiopian-American jazz saxophonist and a PhD candidate in ethnomusicology at Harvard University, created Debo as a way of exploring the unique sounds that filled the dance clubs of “Swinging Addis” and as an outlet for experimenting with new arrangements, configurations, and compositional techniques. In addition to their dedication to Ethiopian music, the other members of Debo Band are involved in a huge array of musical projects, ranging from free jazz and experimental rock music to chamber and orchestral music. Band members have composed full orchestral works, scored silent films and documentaries, recorded albums with homemade electronic instruments, and for fun, study folk music traditions from around the world, including Balkan folk music, Balinese Gamelan, and Brazilian percussion
ensembles.
For the last several months, Debo Band has committed itself to spreading its music to audiences far and wide. In early 2009 Debo toured the U.S. East Coast taking their Ethiopian grooves to diverse venues in New York, Philadelphia, and Washington, D.C. In each of these cities, Debo Band inspired all kinds of people to get up and dance, whether they had never seen iskista, the Ethiopian shoulder dance, or had been dancing it since childhood.
In May 2009, Debo traveled to Addis Ababa, Ethiopia to perform at the 8th Ethiopian Music Festival, an engagement supported by Mid Atlantic Arts Foundation through USArtists International with support from the National Endowment for the Arts and the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation. These performances affected Debo Band’s creative and professional development in significant ways, particularly in the collaboration they began with several traditional musicians – vocalist Selamnesh Zemene, dancer Zinash Tsegaye, drummer Asrat Ayalew, and washint (flute) player Yohannes Afewerk. All accomplished musicians in their own right, these musicians have collectively over fifty years of experience at prestigious venues ranging from the National Theater of Ethiopia to Fendika, a leading azmari bet, or traditional music house, in Addis Ababa. Working with these four musicians, Debo Band grows into a forceful, energetic, and authoritative thirteen-piece Ethiopian ensemble capable of delightful, one-of-a-kind performances.
01. Debo Band - Akale Wube (5:01) 02. Debo Band - Ney Ney Weleba (5:30) 03. Debo Band - Not Just a Song (6:06) 04. Debo Band - Yefeker Wegagene (5:30) 05. Debo Band - Asha Gedawo (5:13) 06. Debo Band - Tenesh Kelbe Lay (5:15) 07. Debo Band - And Lay (4:53) 08. Debo Band - Medinanna Zelesegna (4:11) 09. Debo Band - Habesha (6:51) 10. Debo Band - Ambassel (7:06) 11. Debo Band - DC Flower (3:22)
Badume's Band is a eight-piece, atypical Breton (French) group that masterfully recreates the intoxicating sounds of the Ethiopian Golden Era of Music - when Addis Ababa was grooving to the sound of twist, soul, rhythm & blues and jazz in the 1970s. They have become the official backing band of Mahmoud Ahmed & Alemayéhu Eshété.
1. Badume's Band - Sab Sam Argign (4:38) 2. Badume's Band - Yemewded Neger (4:35) 3. Badume's Band - Qelemewa (4:03) 4. Badume's Band - Mela Mela (6:34)
Eric Menneteau (vocals), Xavier Pusset (tenor saxophone), Pierre-Yves Mérel (tenor saxophone), Frank Le Masle (keyboards), Rudy Blas (guitar), Etienne Callac (bass), Antonin Volson (drums), Jonathan Volson (percussion)
When it comes to traditional Ethiopian Music, Shambel Belayneh is well known for his singing and his great skill with the Masinko, a traditional Ethiopian musical instruments. For over 20 years, he has entertained audiences across the globe. Currently residing in the United States, Shambel's heart remains in his homeland and he is deeply committed to performing the music of Ethiopia throughout the world.
When it comes to traditional Ethiopian music, Shambel Belayneh is well known not only for his singing talent, but also for his great skill with the masinko. He is deeply committed to performing the music of Ethiopia throughout the world. Hager, Shambel's sixth recording, is an attempt to blend traditional musical instruments (masinko and krar) with western instrumentation.
For those Ethiopians far far away from home, Shambel's music brings back great and unforgatable memories. Especially songs number 1,2 and 3. What better way to remenice about your country and roots than with music like 'Hager'? Song number 2, 'Jemeregn' hits home with it's lyrics. The fact that Shambel is one of the best vocalists of our country also contributes to the essence of this cd. Shambel, cheers to you!
A CD full of happy moments and wonderful music. If you like Ethiopian dancing (with the shoulders and all) this is definately the CD for you. The combination of modern instruments with Shambel's masinko creates an exciting blend that is bound to get you off of your seat and into the dance floor. To me the songs are all great, but I would like to point out song number 6 for its amazing rhythm. If you are Ethiopian you already have it, and if you are not - go get it !
Most people are familiar with the Ethiopian music of the ‘golden seventies’. The great CD-series of ‘Ethiopiques’ focuses on this remarkable period of truly amazing and rich music. The era of the big brass bands came to an end in the period of the ‘Derg’, the military government in Ethiopia from 1975 till 1991. After that, the scene seemed confused.
Many great musicians were forced into exile or passed away. The horns mostly disappeared and were replaced by cheap keyboards everywhere. Awful bombastic overproduced ‘plastic’ pop productions flooded the market. Synthesisers, vocoders, drummachines and hasty productions that all sound alike.
But in the last few years something new is emerging. Young producers have started combining traditional rhythms and strong dance beat production. The result is very original, uplifting and very danceable music. The gurage, wollo, gondar, oromo and other traditional rhythms work wonders for this new dance music. And the Ethiopian youth loves it. It can be heard not only in the hip areas like Bole, but all over Addis and other Ethiopian urban areas. Blasting from restaurants, taxi’s, coffeeplaces, grocerystores and Addis’ giant market, the Mercato.
The ‘Ililta’ CD is a compilation of this new Ethiopian dance music, recorded with a new generation of singers over the last decade. A cross-selection of the production work of Mesele Asmamaw and some of his close colleges.
Tlahoun Gésséssé is widely regarded as the "Voice" of Ethiopia. Born in 1940, his singing and recording career began in the 1950's until his recent death earlier in 2009. As many followers of the Ethiopiques series will know, the incredible 17th installment is dedicated to Tlahoun, largely featuring arrangements by Mulatu Astatke and a selection of the country's finest ensembles. This record is essentially another "Best Of..", featuring a selection of tracks taken from the 60's & 70's golden period of Ethiopian music, when Tlahoun's tenor was recognised as the best around, playing to Haile Selassie I on numerous occasions.
It's standard practice in any country for the most celebrated singers to receive backing from the best players they can offer and Tlahoun worked with the top musicians in Ethiopia. His powerful vocals are well matched by blazing funk, heartfelt soul and superb Ethiopian rhythms, that still sound as fiery and impassioned today as we can only imagine they did back then. The hot and hazy swing of 'Kulun Mankwalesh' or the steaming funk of 'Aykedashem Lebé' show Tlahoun's diversity and range perfectly and are worth the price of admission alone. If you dig any of the Ethiopiques series or Sublime Frequencies Group Doueh this is an absolute must.
Despite the release of several singles, mainly on the internet, the last time Teddy Afro released an actual album was nine years ago in 2005. That album was Yasteseryal – an album that clearly hit a nerve with the Ethiopian regime, but also an album that literally took Teddy singing and dancing around the world. In 2006 alone, from Johannesburg to Dubai and Chicago to Jerusalem, Teddy had held concerts in 36 cities around the world singing songs from the album Yasteseryal.
Very few would disagree that Yasteseryal was by far the most successful album by any Ethiopian musician in the history of albums in recent years.
Yasteseryal and its astounding reception by the Ethiopian public raised the standard so high for Teddy himself and other artists that there were always going to be even higher expectations definitely of Teddy and perhaps of others too.
So after nine years since his last album was released, and more than four years since his own release from jail, Teddy has a new album.
He named his new album – Tikur Sew – after a song in the album dedicated to one of Ethiopia’s most famous 19th century emperors.
The emperor is Minilik and the song takes us on a journey to a historic event that took place in Ethiopia 118 years ago.
In 1896, Emperor Minilik mobilised the people of Ethiopia to fight an invading Italian army that crossed Ethiopian borders aiming to colonise the country.
The Emperor called upon all Ethiopians to rally behind him and defeat the Italians.
Ethiopians responded to the Emperor’s call turning up in their droves in the northern Ethiopian town of Adwa.
In what is now known as the Battle of Adwa, the people of Ethiopia, led by Emperor Minilik, defeated the Italians and it was the first time a European power was defeated in Africa.
In a continent that saw European colonisation continue up until 1975 in a country like Angola by the Portuguese, Ethiopia is the only country in Africa to have never been colonised – and no attempt was even made to colonise Ethiopia after the victory of Adwa.
The Victory of Adwa is well recorded in history. It is a source of pride for Africa and Ethiopia. Books have been written, films and plays have been made and songs have been written and sang to commemorate those who sacrificed their lives to secure the rare victory.
The last person to sing about Adwa was Gigi – a female singer of great talent – and she sang it beautifully. Her song doesn’t mention Emperor Minilik by name, but it is a true commemoration of the sacrifice of the men, women and children of Ethiopia at the time.
And now Teddy Afro feels it is his turn to base one of his songs on this historic Ethiopian victory.
In a typical Teddy Afro style, the song Tikur Sew is nothing short of a spectacle.
It is musically astute and gives its listeners a distinctive vibe that gets them in tune with Ethiopian folk dance and singing.
In a historical re-enactment, the song captures what would have been the mood of the battlefield when patriotic Ethiopians flocked to Adwa from every corner of the country eagerly to defend Ethiopia.
The collective voice of the people chanting “Ho! Ho!” is the theme of the song and works as a symbolic reminder of what Ethiopians achieved once when they spoke with one voice.
Tikur Sew has ample reference to a spectacular Ethiopian historic moment and rightly glorifies an Ethiopian emperor who kept the country’s sovereignty intact in the face of adversity.
The highpoint of the song is perhaps when it is stated in the lyrics that if it wasn’t for Emperor Mililik’s timely call upon all Ethiopians and the swift turnout and sacrifice that followed, Ethiopia would be a different place to the sovereign place that it is now.
But there is another dimension to the song. While various ethnic groups of the country made sacrifices to guarantee the victory gained at Adwa, some factions of the various Oromo ethnic groups are known to have been unhappy with what they regard as inadequate acknowledgement of their contributions. Some within these factions are also known to be less than impressed with Emperor Minilik himself on the grounds of perceived mistreatment of the ethnic group under his leadership.
Mindful of the controversies surrounding these claims and perceptions, Tikur Sew pays a special tribute to the sacrifices paid by the people of the Oromo ethnic groups during the Battle of Adwa by making their distinctive folk rhythm a major theme of the song.
It particularly draws attention to the infectious enthusiasm that would have been displayed by the people of the Oromo ethnic group in their response to Emperor Minilik's invitation to all Ethiopians to meet him at Adwa and defend their country from foreign aggression.
Even parts of the song's lyrics are in the Oromo language specially written by a renowned Oromo language songwriter which literally gives the song its grace.
In doing so, the song seeks to deliberately undermine the perceived rift between Emperor Minilik and the people of the Oromo ethnic group. But more importantly, the song seeks to promote better understanding, unity and reconciliation.
And this perhaps holds the key to Teddy Afro’s astounding success as an artist whose appeal crosses all boundaries.
Many will find the song pleasing to the ear and stimulating to the senses coupled with its ability to prompt the listener to pause to listen to the lyrics while in the middle of dancing to its tunes.
Teddy gave his admirers about three weeks to listen to his new album and to discuss and talk about the messages in the songs before he took them completely by surprise when he released a video clip for the song Tikur Sew.
Very simply put, the video clip is a masterpiece that will go down in history as a music video clip about a proud Ethiopian history without precedence. The victory of Adwa is without precedence and so is the video clip as a music video clip in Ethiopia.
With its re-enactment featuring hundreds of artist participants, the clip recreates the scene of the Battle of Adwa and gets the message across perfectly. It gets it accurately. There is no doubt that it is a very expensive production – it perhaps is the single most expensive music video production ever recorded in Ethiopia, but it simply is worth it.
When you look closely at the clip, you will find scenes that are similar to scenes that you would have seen in Michael Jackson’s Earth Song. The scene in Michael’s clip, half-way through the song, shows of him and others grabbing soil from the ground and slowly letting it go.
And the opening scene of Teddy’s Tikir Sew shows Teddy doing exactly the same.
This shows that Teddy as an artist has made a deliberate decision to get inspiration and learn from the best.
But why Teddy is drawn to the use of the subliminal messaging and connotative imagery of soil is very much worth examining.
The connotation of soil or earth is very similar to the human body because it deals with our roots, stability and foundations. For example, dream experts say that when we dream of dark, rich soil it is a message of fertility and birth, and suggests now is an optimal time to plant the seeds of our creativity with the promise of prime growth.
If we are viewing barren lands in our dreams, according to dream experts, it is time for renewal and one is advised to refresh their inner landscape.
Part of the clip’s opening scene shows Teddy grabbing two handful of soil from the ground of what looks like a graveyard on top of a hill in Adwa.
A graveyard is implied by the sight of a human remain on the ground.
This perfectly fits the narrative that Ethiopians are used to hearing about how their forbearers are watching them from the graveyards and how the current generation should maintain the legacy that they have inherited from those who stood up for Ethiopia and paid the ultimate sacrifice.
And so Teddy starts the clip by waking up the dead from their graveyards in Adwa.
As he stirs the graveyard to turn the clock back to 1896, Adwa looks covered in a cloud of dust and as the dust clears, the past is revealed.
The rest of the clip is a successful attempt to show the viewer how those who took part in the battle of Adwa defended Ethiopia turning up at the battlefield with a replica of the Arc of the Covenant, on foot and on horseback and waving the national flag with infectious patriotism.
And these evidently are the messages that Teddy wants his listeners/viewers to get out of his song and its clip.
But this is only the first of eleven songs in Teddy’s new album and there are issues that the current generation of Ethiopians is grappling with that are also discussed widely in the album.
It is no secret to anyone that the current generation of Ethiopians, either in the homeland or abroad, is enduring a painful and frustrating period of disunity.
In places outside of Ethiopia, Ethiopian community centers once known for their various vibrant cultural events designed to make everyone feel at home have now been reduced to places of bickering.
Even some have closed their doors altogether leaving countless Ethiopians without a place to practice their culture and without a place to seek the assistance they often need to survive and succeed in a foreign country.
Even places of worship that have stayed off-limits to conflicts over the generations, often playing the role of promoting unity and harmony, have become places of bitter hostilities and division. These disagreements have caused some dissatisfied groups to found their own places of worship, which comes at a cost to unity, progress and cohesion among Ethiopians.
In a country that a dictatorial government comfortably maintains its grip on power for decades driving its serious critics to near extinction, making ends meet is a struggle for many Ethiopians living in Ethiopia.
More than twenty years since the current government took control vowing to make Ethiopia self-sufficient in food production, not only has it remained reliant on outside support, but the country is now a leading recipient of emergency food aid.
Progress has stalled at the social and political level and love is literally scarce.
Hence Teddy’s songs Sele Fikir (Track 2) and Kelal Yihonal (Track 7).
Both of these songs discuss the scarcity of love among Ethiopians, which Teddy says is the main cause of Ethiopia’s current woes.
SeleFikir reminds us of Ethiopia’s proud history and how the country’s future needs to be guided by its glorious past.
It embarrassingly poses the question of how Ethiopians could go hungry when its land is so fertile, lush and green.
And it warns Ethiopians of more adverse consequences of the continuing disregard Ethiopians have for each other.
But Kelal Yihonal, on the other hand, is presented with a much more positive spin on the state of Ethiopians’ attitude towards the common problems that they face as a society.
The song assures Ethiopians that they need to carry on being strong and positive regardless of their current situation and vaguely indicates that they may be approaching the light at the end of the tunnel.
Kelal Yihonal says not only is tomorrow another day but it also says that tomorrow is a better day. It even suggests that it is foolish to think otherwise.
Yet, the song reaches its climax when the subtle but powerful voice of Ethiopian Laureate Tsegaye Gebre Medhin delivers a painful but honest remark on the fact that Ethiopians have come to fear love and unity. It is an excerpt from one of Tsegaye Gebrememdhin’s verses which was recorded not long before his death in 2006.
One of Africa's leading poets, playwrights and intellectuals who wrote an extensive list of original literature and translated some of Shakespeare's works to Amharic, Laureate Tsegaye Gebre Medhin died in February 2006 at the age of 69.
Tsegaye was known for many things in Ethiopia and around the world. And his love for Ethiopia and his life-long devotion to using his literature to educate Ethiopians about their history and his well-regarded reflections on the country’s direction have earned him a lot of respect among Ethiopians.
One could clearly feel Tsegaye’s sense of frustration in the verse that Teddy has picked to mesh in his song Kelal Yihonal.
There is also a blunt and deliberate song about Eritrea – a former state of Ethiopia made sovereign mainly by the help of the current Ethiopian regime. Fiorina (Track 10) is a song about the Eritrean capital Asmara (disguised as Fiorina the female lover) and how difficult it is to forget about her and move on.
The album could once again put Teddy on a collision course with the Ethiopian regime for a number of reasons.
The first and most obvious reason is that the song glorifies Emperor Minilik and some of the Emperor’s right-hand men. It gives complete credit to the Emperor and his decisive leadership for the victory of Adwa.
Giving credit to Emperor Minilik for the victory of Adwa is a fact that the current Ethiopian regime has publicly disputed particularly during the occasion of the 100 anniversary of the victory of Adwa 16 years ago.
At the time, the regime claimed the victory was particularly important for the people of Adwa and that official celebrations marking the victory would only be held in Adwa, and not in Addis Ababa as the nation’s the capital.
Given the regime’s policy of ethnic federalism and Adwa being the birthplace of the regime’s former head Meles Zenawi, the claim prompted outrage among Ethiopians.
Little to no mention was given to Emperor Minilik during the occasion, official ceremonies were held in Adwa (not in Addis) and the victory was repeatedly referred to as the victory of the people of Adwa.
Over the years, there have been many voices attempting to set the record straight and Teddy’s song Tikur Sew is just the latest of the many voices telling history like it is.
And for these reasons, Tikur Sew will not be music to the ears of the government. A song that hopes for a better day so that Ethiopians and Eritreans can live together again is also a song that the government will despise along with a song that features Laureate Tsegaye Gebre Medhin who was a fierce critic of the government.
The album also features a reggae-inspired hit song about Africa that tells the story of an African identity that remains intact regardless of one’s whereabouts.
The wide-ranging album also hosts Teddy’s latest love songs that are lyrically appealing and musically sensational.
Not only are his love songs as sensational as ever, but their release was also followed by a sensational official announcement by Teddy that he had a girlfriend and was planning to start a married life in the foreseeable future.
He appeared on a local FM radio in Addis Ababa to talk about his newfound love.
The journalist asked if there was a song in the new album that he sang particularly for his girlfriend and he replied: “not on this occasion, but absolutely will do in the future.”
For an artist of this much talent and passion, writing and singing a song for his partner would be naturally easy. He has to date sang about love, Ethiopia, his father, Emperor Haile Selassie, Emperor Minilik, Athelet Haile Gebreselassie, Athelet Kenenissa Bekele, Bob Marley, Africa, Asmara and more.
This is a passionate artist that is fast becoming a brand in his own right – not an organisation, but an organised individual.
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