The Feedel Band’s sound can best be described as an east African jazz, a merging of 1960s R&B and funk with traditional Ethiopian songs and instruments, the band features artists and music from the hugely popular Éthiopiques series on the Buda CD label that has helped turn Ethiopian music from the 60s and 70s into a hipster obsession.
The band consists of many of Ethiopia's greatest artists who create original songs inspired by the Golden Age of Ethiopian popular music in the late 1960s and 70s— a time that had Addis Ababa littered with groups playing brass-heavy concoctions influenced by American soul and jazz. The band’s pentatonic melodies are repurposed with mutated instrumentation like 60s and 70s-era Ethiopian grooves played on congas, electric guitar, bass, saxophone, krar, mesenko, piano, organ, trombone and drums.
Feedel Band - Araya's Mood
The members of Feedel Band are all acclaimed
musicians in their own right Feedel’s sax player Moges Habte
can be heard performing the funky James Brown Bandinfluenced
cut “Muziqawi Silt” on Éthiopiques’ Volume
13 with his ’70s group the Walias Band. Their bass
player Alemseged Kebede's groovy bass lines could be
found in many of Aster Aweke and Tilahune Gessesse's
music. Also in the band is Araya Woldemichael who is
the founder of the band, composer, Keyboardist and a
producer. They will be joined by Mikias Abebayehu on
drums/congas, Kaleb Temesgen on electric guitar, Kenneth
Joseph on drums, Omar Little on trumpet, Minale Bezu
on krar (stringed lyre)/vocal, Setegn Atenaw on
mesenko/vocal, Feleke Hailu on alto sax, Thomas
Young, Fasil Bezabeh and Almaz Getahun on traditional
No more significant than the term "jazz" but funny and percussive, "Ompa Bompa" becomes the name of the formation after being the title of a piece. Inaugurated around the compositions of the pianist, Ompa Bompa was born in June 2001 with five musicians who, through this training, will exploit their taste for exploration and creation. This repertoire gives rise to a first disc: "Clap Mental" (2003).
In 2004, Ompa Bompa revisits the music of Duke Ellington and creates the "Duke, Jungle" repertoire, on the occasion of "Jazz en scène" (federation of jazz scenes and improvised music). ". Two new instruments (trumpet and alto saxophone) add to the copper section. This repertoire marked an important shift in the style and play of the group.
"To Our Dearly Beloved" was created in 2009. The compositions of this repertoire offer the listener a personal and original reading of the famous novel by Toni Morrison "Beloved". This project gave rise to many performances and a record (2011) which you can purchase on this site (cf homepage).
The band has performed in several festivals (Rhino Jazz Festival, Charlie Jazz Festival, Les Jazzeries d'Hiver in Saint Etienne, Alphonse in Madness in Prissé, Festival du Haut Livradois, Jazz au Sommet, Jazz in Vienna, Jazz en Scène ...), theater productions (The Peristyle of Lyon Opera, Cavajazz in Viviers, Presles Inns, Médiathèque de Firminy, Jazz Club de Savoie, Le Périscope in Lyon, Moulin à Jazz in Vitrolles, Pax in Saint Etienne, Le Puy de la Lune in Clermont-Ferrand, the Hot Club of Lyon) or cultural seasons (Miramas, Saint-Victor on the Loire, Horme, Saint Quentin Fallavier ...)
Hamelmal Abate was born in Harar and grew up in eastern Ethiopia a city called Asebe Teferi. She is a strong woman who established herself as the reigning queen of Ethiopian music.
Her incredible voice and timeless arrangements appeal to traditional and modern tastes alike, which is why her live shows play to sold out crowds allover the world.
Ethiomystic is a fusion of traditional and contemporary jazz, reggae and rock that makes you want to listen to it again and again. I tried to offer simplicity using just a few instruments. Yet, there’s a layered approach, with rhythm, melody, and harmonies that unlocks a unique, refined sound. - Paulos Tadesse
Instrumental music situated at the crossroads of many of influences- traditional song, afro-beat, reggae, jazz and funk.
Fantahun Shewankochew is a Toronto-based musician (vocalist, song writer, instrumentalist, arranger and composer). His new release Adera (An Undertaking) is a rediscovery of Ethio-jazz, traditional and popular Ethiopian music with a modern twist. Fantahun Shewankochew has crafted an album that harkens back to the golden era of Ethiopian music.
Born in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, Fantahun hails from a country with a diverse mix of rich culture, tradition and music. Affectionately called “Fantish” by his friends and fans, Fantahun discovered his talent for music at a very young age when he participated in school performances as a singer, often imitating famous Ethiopian vocalists like Muluken Melese and his idol the late Tilahun Gessesse, undoubtedly the most revered and iconic figure who dominated Ethiopia’s modern music for almost half-a-century. To develop his talent, Fantahun joined the Yared School of Music in Addis Ababa, where he studied for four years and graduated in the early 80’s with a diploma in trumpet and the Ethiopian traditional instrument called krar, a harp-like five-or six-string lyre played using the fingers or in combination with a pick. His stint in the school not only provided him with the necessary academic credential and a better understanding of what underlies his music, but also created the historic opportunity of producing the Amharic hit song “Kiraren Biqagnew”, his signature song that introduced him to the public. Fresh from school, he was hired by the renowned Ethiopian National Theatre as a trumpet player and worked as a vocalist on the side with the Mahiran Band that he co-founded.
Fantahun Shewankochew - Yeberetuma
He released his first album - Kiraren in 1986 with the Mahiran band. He released three more albums: “Min Yelelesh Ale”, “Shegnichesh Semeles”, and “BeYikirta”. Besides his artistic and administrative responsibilities at the Ethiopian National theatre where he worked for over 20 years in various capacities including Coordinator of the music department, Fantahun formed one more music band –the Medina Band, collaborated with famous musicians and also went on international music tours in Africa, North America, South America, Europe, China and the Middle East.
Fantahun Shewankochew - Kiraren Bikagnew
While in tour in Paris, France, Fantahun collaborated with the famous and now US-based Ejigayehu Shibabaw, a.k.a. Gigi., and released the “Ethiopian Love Songs” album. His tour with a group of musicians that included four German instrumentalists (Jochen Engel, Patrick Langer, Jörg Pfeil and Michael Ehret) and four Ethiopian vocalists (Abonesh Adnew, Tigist Bekele, Wondwossen Kassa and Binyam Kindya), organized under a band called “Sounds of Saba” offered Fantahun the opportunity to fulfill his dream of introducing Ethiopian music to the rest of the world and also to participate in the group’s 1998 “Tizita” album in which he participated as a vocalist, kirar player and percussionist. Representing Ethiopia with the Cultural Orchestra of the ENT, Fantahun has participated at some of the biggest international musical events including the Ravera festival in Italy and the Houston International festival in Texas, USA.
Fantahun made Toronto his new home in 2011 and he has since collaborated with fellow Ethiopian and other Canadian musicians and performed at such venues as the Glenn Gould Studio, Lula Lounge, Harbourfront Centre, the Music Gallery, the Gladstone Hotel and the Luminato Festival. No less important is his contribution to the Ethiopian Community in Toronto. In the same year he arrived in Toronto, for example, he got himself busy serving as artistic director of a spiritual concert & drama organized by fellow artists in collaboration with the choir of the Toronto Membere Birhan Saint Mary Ethiopian Orthodox Cathedral to raise fund for the construction of the Church’s new cathedral. The show was a complete sell-out and a phenomenal success.
Regarding his plans in music, Fantahun has a keen interest to introduce Ethiopian traditional music, which he says has gained more and more popularity in many European countries but not so much here in Canada. In addition to his many personal projects in the pipeline, he plans to introduce to Canadians Ethiopia’s distinct modal system that is pentatonic called qenet, of which there are four main modes: tezeta, bati, ambassel, and anchihoye and other additional modes which are basically variants of the four modes.
