Ethio-jazz is a blend of

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a major ...

music with traditional Ethiopian music, combining the

pentatonic scale A pentatonic scale is a musical scale with five notes per octave, in contrast to the heptatonic scale, which has seven notes per octave (such as the major scale and minor scale). Pentatonic scales were developed independently by many ancien ...

-based melodies of Ethiopian music with the 12-tone scale and instrumentation of Western jazz music. Other elements in this genre include

Afrofunk Afrobeat is a Nigerian music genre that involves the combination of West African musical styles (such as traditional Yoruba music and highlife) and American funk, jazz, and soul influences, with a focus on chanted vocals, complex intersecting ...

soul In many religious and philosophical traditions, there is a belief that a soul is "the immaterial aspect or essence of a human being". Etymology The Modern English noun ''soul'' is derived from Old English ''sāwol, sāwel''. The earliest attes ...

, and

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...

rhythms. The genre originated in the 1950s with Armenian musician Nerses Nalbandian, who created a fusion of Ethiopian and Western music while working at the National Theatre. Ethio-jazz was revolutionized by Mulatu Astatke in the late 1950s. Astatke is considered the father of Ethio-jazz music.

Characteristics

Ethio-jazz is an improvised version of

involving Ethiopian traditional music, and also some elements of

and

rhythms.

History

Nerses Nalbandian

The origin of Ethio-jazz can be traced to the 1950s with Nerses Nalbandian, a musician of Armenian descent whose family migrated to Ethiopia in 1915. Nalbandian became the leader of Ethiopia's National Opera after his uncle, Kervok Nalbandian, retired. When Emperor

Haile Selassie Haile Selassie I ( gez, ቀዳማዊ ኀይለ ሥላሴ, Qädamawi Häylä Səllasé, ; born Tafari Makonnen; 23 July 189227 August 1975) was Emperor of Ethiopia from 1930 to 1974. He rose to power as Regent Plenipotentiary of Ethiopia (' ...

commissioned Nalbandian to compose music for the

Ethiopian National Theatre The Ethiopian National Theatre is a national theatre in central Addis Ababa, Ethiopia Ethiopia, , om, Itiyoophiyaa, so, Itoobiya, ti, ኢትዮጵያ, Ítiyop'iya, aa, Itiyoppiya officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia ...

, he created a fusion of traditional Ethiopian music and Western instrumentation. This was considered the basis of the evolution of Ethio-jazz music.

Mulatu Astatke

Multi-instrumentalist Mulatu Astatke has been considered the father of Ethio-jazz. He was born in 1943 in

Jimma Jimma () is the largest city in southwestern Oromia Region, Ethiopia. It is a special zone of the Oromia Region and is surrounded by Jimma Zone. It has a latitude and longitude of . Prior to the 2007 census, Jimma was reorganized administrative ...

and developed an interest in music while studying

aeronautical engineering Aerospace engineering is the primary field of engineering concerned with the development of aircraft and spacecraft. It has two major and overlapping branches: Aeronautics, aeronautical engineering and Astronautics, astronautical engineering. A ...

in Wales. He went on to pursue a formal education in music at Holy Trinity College in

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

. Astatke was interested in promoting traditional Ethiopian music to Western audiences. Beginning in 1958, he also studied jazz at

Berklee College of Music Berklee College of Music is a private music college in Boston, Massachusetts. It is the largest independent college of contemporary music in the world. Known for the study of jazz and modern American music, it also offers college-level cours ...

Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...

. There, he successfully combined Ethiopian music with Western jazz and rhythms, conceiving "Ethio-jazz".

List of musicians

Alemayehu Eshete Alemayehu Eshete Andarge ( am, ዓለማየሁ እሸቴ አንዳርጌ; French pronunciation: Alèmayèhu Eshèté; June 1941 – 2 September 2021) was an Ethiopian singer. He had performed since the 1960s and primarily in Amharic. He had been ...

Teshome Mitiku Teshome Mitiku ( am, ተሾመ ምትኩ; born 1949) is an Ethiopian singer and saxophonist. He is the father of Swedish singer Emilia and brother of saxophonist Theodros Mitiku. He was leader of Soul Ekos Band active in 1960s. Early life Tesh ...

Menelik Wossenachew Menelik Wossenachew (Amharic: ምኒልክ ወስናቸው; 1940 – 24 December 2008) was an Ethiopian singer who was known for his famous singles "Fikir Ayarejim", "Sukar Sukar" "Teyaqiyew Biaschegregn (Ene Wushetenew)" and later "Gash Jembere ...

Tilahun Gessesse Tilahun Gessesse ( am, ጥላሁን ገሠሠ; 27 September 1940 – 19 April 2009) was an Ethiopian singer regarded as one of the most popular Ethiopian artist of the 20th century. Noted by his tenor voice, he was nicknamed "The Voice" during hi ...

References

{{Reflist Ethiopian music Jazz genres