Ethiopian groove and roots with a European improv/punk touch. This powerful trio features Mèssèlè Asmamaw and his suave voice and funky, Hendrix-style krar (traditional Ethiopian lyre), the acknowledged drummer Fabien Duscombs of Le Tigre (des Platanes) fame, and the multi-instrumentalist Jeroen Visser, who hails from the Dutch punk scene of the 1980s.
The Trio Kazanchis manages to produce a hi-energy mix which finds it's roots in ethiopian groove, having traditional melodies and songs as a starting point. However they can as easily follow a melodic line and traditional rhythm as drop it and letting the dynamics of the moment decide. Improvisation, a hardly known angle in traditional Ethiopian music, plays a substantial part. The sometimes Hendrix like krar mixes great with the pure farfisa sound, Wyatt resonant, and Fabien's forward drumming style.
These bands have one or two foreigners as band members, and do their music by fusing Ethiopian songs and beats.
Akale Wube, a French band, for instance, plays Ethiopian music by fusing it with different sounds.
Jazzmaries (a blend of Jazz and Azmaries), and Ukandanz play songs with only the vocal being Ethiopian.
Kazanchis band which also fuses Ethiopian music with different sounds and foreign instruments falls in that category.
Fusing old Ethiopian music with funk and rock, they label their music as ‘Ethiopian traditional Impro punk’ giving alternative style for Ethiopian songs such as Muluken Melesse’s famous song ‘Nanu Nanu Ney’ and songs like ‘Etutu Beredegn.
Touring Ethiopia between January 6 and 25 2011., the trio presented their performance at various venues such as Guramyle, Fendika, and Alliance Ethio-Franciase, in Addis Ababa, including in Nazareth and Awassa. They are also scheduled to perform in different cities of the country.
The band was established in 2009. by Mesele and Jeroen. They were joined later by Fabien to form the band Kazanchis with their first gig as a band in Kazanchis.
The band, based in Switzerland, has performed on international stages, including France, Holland, Belgium, Prague, and the Check Republic. They also took part in different festivals.
When they first started, three of them came up with their individual collection and did their own recordings. They also researched on how they should play, according to Mesele.
“Even if they knew the music it was a bit difficult to internalize. But playing Ethiopian music before establishing this band wasn’t difficult to catch up,” explains Messele.
Messele says the kirar, the traditional music instrument gave their music a unique sound and says proudly that the feedback so far has been a blessing in a short period of time.
On the band’s performance outside Addis, Messele had his own reservations when it comes to the response they received from the audience, especially Awassa and Nazareth, where the band received acclamation.
He said he found the response unexpected. “Sometimes, there is an assumption on the understanding of the music. Addis has exposure for these kinds of fusions but I had my doubts when it comes to the other cities but it was unexpected for us,” Messele said.
Whenever they play on the stage, Mesele and his partners improvise the music, experiment with different songs and, create new sounds and give flavor to the old Ethiopian music.
“Improvising on the stage is not easy. There should be a clear understanding on what’s going on, and I think we have that understanding. So it’s easy to do what we want and we were able to not to repeat what we played yesterday,” comments Mesele.
Mesele says the band is promoting Ethiopian music internationally and also reviving the lost sounds of Ethiopian music to the younger generation.
With encouraging feedback from music lovers so far, Messele sees a good prospect for the band in the future.
“The feedback has been really great and we are asked to play in different countries like Turkey, Spain and Portugal. So we will see how it goes,” Messele said.
Personnel:
Jeroen Visser (vocals, baritone saxophone,
farfisa, organ)
Fabien Duscombs (vocals, drums)
Mèssèlè Asmamaw (krar, vocals)
