Born and raised in Addis Abab, Ethiopia Chachi Tadesse has used her roots to grow an international music career. At the age of sixteen Chachi joined a well known Ethiopian cover-band, touring extensively while building her musical skills and fan base. In 1982 Chachi moved to the USA, taking classes in Music, acting and modeling and touring extensively with reggae artists.
Chachi is most known for her musical career as one of the first Ethiopian artists to blend the sounds of reggae with Amharic. After releasing her first album, in Washington D.C., she traveled extensively and got involved in acting, modeling, voice lessons, and fashion design. Chachi returned to Ethiopia in 1992 with her first album selling over 90,000 copies worldwide, but her focus was honed in on the plight of street children rather than on her musical success.
'one of the most rousing, reliable new African bands of the year'
The Guardian
'there’s something about the soulful bluesy sound that has a wide appeal ... captivating' 4****stars,
The Evening Standard
'rousing, driving songs... a no-nonsense set that provides a reminder of the great African music to be found in the UK' 3*** stars
The Guardian
'the fireworks are spectacular' 3***stars
The Financial Times
'primed to deliver a raw, yet updated blast of Ethiopian Blues' 3***stars
Songlines
THE KRAR COLLECTIVE (aka Geata Krar Collective) are Temesegen Tareken (aka Temesgen Zeleke), a former pupil of veteran Ethiopian vibraphone player Mulatu Astatke, on Krar, Robel Tesfaye on traditional
Ethiopian Kebero drums, and singer-dancer Genet Asefa. They are sometimes joined by other musicians, singers and full dance show with 4 dancers.
Krar Collective brings mind-blowing Ethiopian grooves, dazzling Krar and kebero drums, and stunning vocals rooted in tradition and soaked with contemporary attitude. Dubbed “the White Stripes of Ethiopia’ for its minimalist rocky sound, the unstoppable trio— Temesegen Zeleke on the krar (a five- or six-stringed harp), singer Genet Asefa, and drummer Grum Begashaw—bases its repertoire on traditional Ethiopian songs but creates a unique style with timeless appeal: All Music Guide says it’s “unlike any other music from Africa in recent years. … at once accessible, beautiful, and energetic.”
With vocals full of collective cadences and long solo poems, musical stops and starts that create an organic syncopation, and a krar that alternates from lead to rhythm instrument, Krar Collective is rhythmically spellbinding, and uniquely powerful.
Ethiopia Super Krar
Ethiopia Super Krar is Krar Collective’s dazzling debut release. The unstoppable trio, dubbed ‘the White Stripes of Ethiopia’ for their minimalist rocky sound, are favourites on the London and increasingly on the international live circuit. They are renowned for dynamic performances of their contagious music and equally infectious dance moves. Ethiopia Super Krar was recorded to tape on an original 1960s 24-track reel to reel machine, an approach which helped to capture Krar Collective’s music as close as possible to the live experience– the sound is real and honest, not a manufactured perfection.
The instrumental line-up features the krar and bass krar lyre, kebero drums, a one stringed masenqo fiddle, and a washint flute accompanying the band’s distinctive vocals. Band leader Temesgen Zeleke and Genet Assefa share lead singer role. Genet is magnetic in performance and recording – her soaring ululations and perfectly delivered melodies fill the spacious sound. Temesgen Zeleke is a revolutionary krar player – standing to strum and pick his electrified instrument, often kneeling to the floor during his killer solos in intense Hendrix fashion, all on just six open strings. As a young student Temesgen was mentored and encouraged by legendary Ethio-jazzman Mulatu Astatke, and an instrumental arrangement by Astatke features on Ethiopia Super Krar. The famous Ethiopian actress Asnakech Worku, who pioneered the krar as an accompaniment to her emotional ballads during the 1960s and 70s, is also paid a tribute via a cover of her spine-tingling song ‘Endye Eyerusalem’.
Other songs in the repertoire are traditional and represent different Ethiopian tribes. The names of the tracks (‘Ambassel’, Guragigna’, ‘Konso’, ‘Oromigna’, ‘Wello’, ‘Welaita’) are related to the names of ethnic groups or geographical regions. ‘Tizita’ is a ballad form in Ethiopian music associated with remembering loved ones and the ‘King of Tizita’ Mahmoud Ahmed, and ‘Ete-mete’ is a children’s song.
Krar Collective present their sound and their philosophy – rural music in urban clothes, and a belief Ethiopian traditions need to be respected, enjoyed and preserved. Influenced by their London home - in 2012 they represent Ethiopia in the London 2012 Cultural Olympiad - their Ethiopian roots and their own abounding creative streak, they are setting the scene alight with 2012 shows in India, Canada, Germany, Finland, The Netherlands, Switzerland, Belgium, Denmark, and Poland even before their first album release– Ethiopia Super Krar looks set to spread their fire even wider and even wilder!
Part 2 of interview with director Olivia Wyatt about the making of her film, Staring Into the Sun.
A contemporary survey of the tribal music of Ethiopia. Recorded in 2009 by Olivia Wyatt, this double LP showcases an array of mind-blowing sounds from the "land of eternal sunshine."
Presented in this visually stunning gatefold are audio examples ranging from remote tribes -- of the Ethiopian highlands, the lower Omo and the Great Rift Valley -- to their electric analogues in the sweaty beerhalls of Addis Ababa.
This collection features songs from the Azmari, poet-musicians who play the krar (ancient lyre) and whose song repertoire includes everything from comic improvisation to lyrical elegiac, the Borana whose work songs are a transcendental polyphonic singing that stops time, and the Dirashe whose syncopated panpipes are as otherworldly as anything ever heard.
Other selections include music from the Mursi, Druze, Gedeo, Konso, and Tsemay tribes as well as some fine examples of amplified roots music from the capital from the Habesha 2000 Band. This is a limited edition one-time pressing double LP housed in a gatefold full color tip-on sleeve with gorgeous Polaroid shots from Olivia Wyatt.
In 2009, filmmaker/photographer Olivia Wyatt traveled to Ethiopia to document a music and dance event called the Festival of 1000 Stars. Things didn't quite go according to plan. On her arrival in the country, Wyatt discovered the Ethiopian government had canceled the event. So Wyatt instead headed out to visit 13 tribes, whose performances Staring Into the Sun documents in a DVD, a CD, notes, and photographs. It's an extraordinarily careful, comprehensive package, featuring stories about close calls with authorities, comments on the distinctive qualities of each tribe, and details about the various instruments used in the recordings.
The hour-long DVD is the best way most of us will have to witness the music of the people Wyatt visited.
With visuals as hypnotic as the performances, she deftly illustrates how music seeps into many different parts of life. The opening scene is one of the most spectacular, showing members of the Borana tribe in southern Ethiopia chanting a cyclical polyphonic song as they pass up buckets of water from a multi-level well; Wyatt's shots skillfully match the repetitive nature of this backbreaking work. Scenes of spiritual possession and ceremonial whipping further demonstrate music's role in ritual practices.
The sheer breadth of styles in the film also extends to more commercial fare-- often featuring keyboards and synthesized drums-- shot directly from TV sets. One clip even features a band decked out in military garb and posing with guns. That stands in stark contrast to the the scenes of the Tsemay tribe, where kids and adults bounce around in a circle to an uplifting song. The big highlight here is the discordant synchronized panpipe playing of the Dirashe tribe in the Great Rift Valley; the music feels like it could career out of control at any moment, but it never does.
The accompanying CD is less essential than the film, though it just about works as a standalone item. Listing no artists or tracks, the disc is simply a collection of recordings Wyatt made. Some of them feature the trilling female vocals that are a staple of the region; others are built around an open-ended structure of loosely handclapped rhythms. The masterfully off-kilter panpipe players of the Dirashe tribe resurface in a nearly eight-minute excerpt of a piece that presumably stretched on far longer. The disc's common thread comes through its ceaselessly looping vocal chants, which are mesmerizingly easy to get lost in-- just as the performers themselves may have done to reach such a trance-inducing state. Staring Into the Sun shows how that kind of loosening is simply one of many purposes music can have for a group of people.
The latest from Sublime Frequencies is a massive cd/dvd/book set, compiled by photographer / filmmaker Olivia Wyatt on a recent trip to Ethiopia, planned to coincide with a music festival - which the government abruptly cancelled for fear of the musicians being exploited. So instead, Wyatt travelled into the bush, to compile this sonic/visual travelogue of the music and musicians, the people and places of the various tribes of Ethiopia, and it's of course breathtaking. The music, heady and hypnotic, joyous and emotional, the sounds varying dramatically from tribe to tribe, but music being ubiquitous, weddings, ceremonies, rituals, drawing water from the well, on television, in living rooms, very rhythmic, mostly vocal drive, but with lots of hand clapping, wildly bowed stringed instruments, vocals chanted, shouted, call and response, super mesmerizing, many of the tribes utilize whistles and panpipes, and the music they make is incredible, otherworldly and impossibly lush, sounding like some modern 20th century classical composition in many cases, while actual bands to rock out, and get surprisingly soulful and funky. A compilation like this must have been so impossible to compile, how on earth to whittle down what must have ben days of recordings to just an hour, but the tracks chosen are amazing, and make us want to hear so much more.
Both the cd and the dvd (more on the dvd in a second) are housed in a cd sized hard cover book, which includes extensive liner notes on Wyatt's trip to Ethiopia, but also 117 Polaroid photos Wyatt took on her trip, of people, places, musicians, villages, an incredible visual feast for the eyes. And then there's the dvd, which features a 60 minute film, which in its won way is structured like the video version of Wyatt's Polaroids, with many still shots, video portraits, as well as some incredible footage, some highlights include so many different lots of singing and dancing, sometimes in traditional tribal dress, often in western t-shirts and shorts, one of the most amazing sequences if of men and women working drawing water from a well, passing buckets from person to person, their worksongs so hypnotic and beautiful, then there's a super wild psychedelic guitar freakout with one woman doing some of the craziest, most ecstatic hair swirling / headbanging we've ever seen, there's footage of men feeding wild hyenas in the middle of the night, often right out of their own mouths, snippets from Ethiopian television with wild MTV style videos, fantastic tribal folks songs with synchronized dances and lots of whistles, dancing girls making music with just the clank and jangle of her jewelry, in fact lots of dances that involve the jangle of jewelry, men smoking in dark rooms watching television, intimate performances in living rooms and so much more.
So incredible, sonically, visually, culturally, easily one of our favorite Sublime Frequencies releases for sure.
A1Borana Tribe* – Borana Singing Wells3:32
A2Konso Tribe* – Konso Lyre Song4:02
A3Tsemay Tribe* – Tsemay Song0:53
A4Habesha 2000 Band – Habesha Traditional Song 12:20
Muluken Melesse was born in northern Ethiopia province of Gojjiam. After traving extensively with his uncle a age of six settled in Addis Ababa. The phenomenally precocious Muluken Melesse 91-2-3-)was just 12 when he began his singing career in 1966 Patric Lumuba night club .Like many vocalists of the period, he started off with the different Police bands, and went on to sing with the first non-institutional groups of those founded by nightclub owners (Blue Nile Band, Zula Band, Venus Band, Equators Band...).
"Hedetch Alu" is the very first song he recorded on vinyl at the beginning of 1972. The All Star Band which accompanied him here was composed of Girma Beyene (piano and arrangements). Tesfa Mariam Kidane (tenor sax), Tekle Adhanonm (guitar), Fekade Amde Meskel (bass) and Tesfay Mekonnen (drums).
Three years later, it was with Equator Band that he recorded "Wetetie Mare and Ete Endenesh Gedawo" under the leadership of Tilaye Gebre. After one last try under the name Dahlak Band, they too went into
exile in American,but not before recording together for Ali Tango some of the best pieces of modern Ethiopian music.
Once in contact with American traditions, Tilaye, the tenor sax, continued to perfect his style and sound, but paid homage to his Ethiopian mentors, Tsegaye Debalqe, Habete Giorgis Aymre Germeda and Nerses Nalbandian, dedicating the instrument CD he released 20 years later in the USA to them (Shakisso Records, 1995).
Muluken however, abandoned his career in 1980's to devote himself to the Pentacostal church. Wishful thinking among Ethiopians regularly gives riseto rumors of a comeback, but none has materialised as yet.
When Muluken Melesse came to the scene, he brought the Balager Sound, the "Ethiopian Roots Music" of the rural villages in Ethiopia to cosmopolitan Addis Ababa , reversing the trend of simply aping Western
music.
Muluken captured that essence and the entire feel of the "Real Ethiopia". In Ethiopia's poetic tradition there are the sam-ennawarq (wax and gold) verses , songs that are apparently about love, but subliminally they level serious criticism at the rulers and political or social conditions.
album with Roha Band arranged by Dawit Yifru and Muluken Melesse
Gold from Wax, which was originally released in 1972 by Lyrichord Records, features two very different styles of music: the music of Addis Ababa, which synthesizes the music of many different areas into a unique style, and the music of several different tribal areas, each of which retain their regional identity.
The collection is very diverse in the musical genres that it represents as well as the kinds of instruments that the songs are played on, from a variety of drums, to thumb pianos, to the bagana - an instrument sometimes called the "Harp of David." Among the more interesting selections, "Anche-Lej-Amaleh" is a song about sex that was recorded in a tin-roofed bar in Addis Ababa where the musicians were crowded up against one wall and the customers and bar girls packed the rest of the space. "Fanno" is an epic poem set to music by Addis Ababa poet Mary Armeede that has many levels of meaning. Among the tribal selections, one of the most fascinating is "Walla-Lam," an Afar divination chant where the participants chant and ask questions of a jinele, or divination medium, and he answers them. This interesting document of Ethiopian music is wrapped up by the last track, which features an Afar flute player recorded in a building in the middle of the Danakil desert. ~ Stacia Proefrock
01 - Eyo, Dorze Song 02 - Kofu 03 - Anche-Lej-Amaleh 04 - Bagana See All 2 05 - Galla Song See All 2 06 - Konso Song 07 - Msgana 08 - Fanno 09 - Harambeh Africa 10 - FILA Flute Dance 11 - Nuer Wire Strung Harp 12 - Jung Nai 13 - Anauk Toum, Thumb Piano (Sanza) 14 - Walla-Lam 15 - Afar Flute
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.
After the compilation of the album Ethiopiques by Frances Falceto which helped bind Ethiopian music of the 50’s and 60’s together, bands comprising a mix of Ethiopian and foreigner musicians have become common, over the last ten years. 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.
