''Moa Anbessa'' is an album by

Ethiopia Ethiopia, , om, Itiyoophiyaa, so, Itoobiya, ti, ኢትዮጵያ, Ítiyop'iya, aa, Itiyoppiya officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, is a landlocked country in the Horn of Africa. It shares borders with Eritrea to the ...

saxophonist The saxophone (often referred to colloquially as the sax) is a type of single-reed woodwind instrument with a conical body, usually made of brass. As with all single-reed instruments, sound is produced when a reed on a mouthpiece vibrates to pr ...

Getatchew Mekuria Getatchew Mekurya ( Amharic: ጌታቸው መኩሪያ ወልደ ተክሌ; 14 March 1935 – 4 April 2016) was an Ethiopian jazz saxophonist. Early career Mekurya was born on 14 March 1935, in Yifat, Ethiopia. His father was a honey merchant ...

with

Dutch Dutch commonly refers to: * Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands * Dutch people () * Dutch language () Dutch may also refer to: Places * Dutch, West Virginia, a community in the United States * Pennsylvania Dutch Country People E ...

post-punk Post-punk (originally called new musick) is a broad genre of punk music that emerged in the late 1970s as musicians departed from punk's traditional elements and raw simplicity, instead adopting a variety of avant-garde sensibilities and non-roc ...

band The Ex and guests, released in 2006 on The Ex's subsidiary label Terp.

Background

The project came together on the heels of The Ex's previous studio album '' Turn'', which incorporated elements of

Eritrea Eritrea ( ; ti, ኤርትራ, Ertra, ; ar, إرتريا, ʾIritriyā), officially the State of Eritrea, is a country in the Horn of Africa region of Eastern Africa, with its capital and largest city at Asmara. It is bordered by Ethiopia ...

n and Congolese music alongside a tribute to the

Ethio-Jazz Ethio-jazz is a blend of jazz music with traditional Ethiopian music, combining the pentatonic scale-based melodies of Ethiopian music with the 12-tone scale and instrumentation of Western jazz music. Other elements in this genre include Afrofu ...

anthems of Getatchew Mekuria. The Ex had toured Ethiopia twice and then invited Mekuria to perform at their 25th anniversary show in Amsterdam where he proposed that The Ex be the

backup band A backup band or backing band is a musical ensemble that typically accompanies a single artist who is the featured performer. The situation may be a live performance or in a recording session, and the group may or may not have its own name, such a ...

for his next album. In addition to ''Moa Anbessa'', the collaboration yielded tours of

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...

and

North America North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere and almost entirely within the Western Hemisphere. It is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South America and the Car ...

as well as an official live

DVD The DVD (common abbreviation for Digital Video Disc or Digital Versatile Disc) is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 1995 and first released on November 1, 1996, in Japan. The medium can store any kind ...

released by

Buda Musique Buda Musique is a French record label specializing in world music. It was founded in 1987 by Gilles Fruchaux and Dominique Buscall. After Buscall died in 1990, Fruchaux became the sole owner. The label is especially known for its ''Éthiopiques' ...

, producers of the influential '' Ethiopiques'' series of ethiojazz compilations.

Live Performances

In addition to Mekuria and The Ex's core two-guitar/drums/vocals line up, ''Moa Anbessa'' and the tours surrounding it featured additional brass and reed work from

Canadian Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...

alto sax The alto saxophone is a member of the saxophone family of woodwind instruments. Saxophones were invented by Belgian instrument designer Adolphe Sax in the 1840s and patented in 1846. The alto saxophone is pitched in E, smaller than the B tenor ...

player

Brodie West Brodie West is a Canadian alto saxophonist who has worked with The Ex, Getatchew Mekuria, Sandro Perri, Lina Allemano, Hamid Drake and Gord Downie. Biography Born in 1975 and raised in Nanaimo, British Columbia, West began playing saxophone in ...

, French

clarinetist This article lists notable musicians who have played the clarinet. Classical clarinetists * Laver Bariu * Ernest Ačkun * Luís Afonso * Cristiano Alves * Michel Arrignon * Dimitri Ashkenazy * Kinan Azmeh * Alexander Bader * Carl Baermann * ...

Xavier Charles, and Dutch

trombonist The trombone (german: Posaune, Italian, French: ''trombone'') is a musical instrument in the brass family. As with all brass instruments, sound is produced when the player's vibrating lips cause the air column inside the instrument to vibrate ...

Joost Buis who had previously played with the band in their Ex Orkest project. The Ex also reunited with Scottish bass player Colin McLean with whom they had toured and co-released records in the late 1980s when both McLean and Andy Moor were members of the

Dog Faced Hermans Dog Faced Hermans were a post-punk band that formed in Scotland in the mid 1980s and remained active through the mid 1990s. They emerged from the UK anarcho-punk scene with a guitar/bass/drums line-up, but also incorporated trumpet and other ...

Album title

The name "Moa Anbessa",

Amharic Amharic ( or ; (Amharic: ), ', ) is an Ethiopian Semitic language, which is a subgrouping within the Semitic branch of the Afroasiatic languages. It is spoken as a first language by the Amharas, and also serves as a lingua franca for all oth ...

for "The Conquering Lion", refers to a

political party A political party is an organization that coordinates candidates to compete in a particular country's elections. It is common for the members of a party to hold similar ideas about politics, and parties may promote specific political ideology ...

made up of Ethiopians who support a

constitutional monarchy A constitutional monarchy, parliamentary monarchy, or democratic monarchy is a form of monarchy in which the monarch exercises their authority in accordance with a constitution and is not alone in decision making. Constitutional monarchies dif ...

. The party was created by exiled titular emperor Amha Selassie I to operate as the political wing of the crown. As an album title, it makes note both of Mekuria's support of the royal family, as well as his own "return to the throne" of Ethiopian jazz.

Reception

Steve Holtje of ''

The Big Takeover ''The Big Takeover'' is a bi-annual music magazine published out of New York City since May 1980 by critic Jack Rabid. History Establishment Jack Rabid and Dave Stein began publishing ''The Big Takeover'' in May 1980 as a fanzine dedicated to N ...

'' ranked ''Moa Anbessa'' the best album of the year, writing: "the idea of a bunch of left-wing punks ..acting as Mekurya’s band had seemed an odd fit, and fraught with potential for disappointment and disaster. But then here came their new album together ..and it is a magnificent melding of cultures. ..''Moa Anbessa'' is a great introduction to Mekurya for

rock Rock most often refers to: * Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids * Rock music, a genre of popular music Rock or Rocks may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wales ...

fans. The Ex doesn’t cut their intensity a bit – heck, they need it all to keep up with Mekurya, still going strong in his seventies. This is a powerful, rocking record that will thrill even listeners who’ve never bought a “ world music” album in their lives." Jason Cherkis of ''

Washington City Paper The ''Washington City Paper'' is a U.S. alternative weekly newspaper serving the Washington, D.C., metropolitan area. The ''City Paper'' is distributed on Thursdays; its average circulation in 2006 was 85,588. The paper's editorial mix is focused ...

'' called the album "thrilling."

Peter Margasak Peter Margasak is a music critic, journalist, and artistic director of the annual Frequency Festival in Chicago, an event that grew out of his longstanding work programming the weekly Frequency Series for experimental music, experimental, improvis ...

hailed the album as "Ethio-Dutch brilliance".

Track listing

# "Ethiopia Hagere" - 6:31 # "Sethed Seketelat" - 4:31 # "Eywat Setenafegagn" - 5:05 # "Che Belew Shellela" - 4:50 # "Aynamaye Nesh" - 5:55 # "Aynotche Terabu/Shemonmwanaye" - 8:15 # "Musicawi Silt" - 4:23 # "Tezeta" - 4:17 # "Almaz Yeharerwa" - 5:35 # "Tezalegn Yetentu" - 6:03 # "Aha Begena" - 6:30

Personnel

* Getatchew Mekuria (tenor saxophone) * G.W. Sok (vocals) * Katherina Bornefeld (drums) *Terrie Hessels (guitar) * Andy Moor (guitar) *Colin McLean (bass) *Xavier Charles (clarinet) *Joost Buis (trombone) *

(alto saxophone) *Cor Fuhler (organ on tracks 6, 9 and 10)

References

{{Authority control The Ex (band) albums 2006 albums Getatchew Mekurya albums