Black Jesus Experience are a nine piece

Ethio-jazz Ethiopian jazz, also referred to as Ethio-jazz, is a blend of traditional Ethiopian music with jazz, combining the pentatonic scale-based melodies of Amharic music with the 12-tone scale and instrumentation of western music. Over time the genre ...

band based in

Melbourne, Australia Melbourne ( , ; Boonwurrung/ or ) is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second most-populous city in Australia, after Sydney. The city's name generally refers to a metropolitan area also known ...

. Since 2009 they have been best known for collaborations with

Mulatu Astatke Mulatu Astatke (; French pronunciation: Astatqé; born 19 December 1943) is an Ethiopian musician and arranger considered as the father of "Ethio-jazz". Born in Jimma, Mulatu was musically trained in London, New York City, and Boston where he ...

as well as a growing discography of independent work. Black Jesus Experience blend traditional Ethiopian music with

hip-hop Hip-hop or hip hop (originally disco rap) is a popular music genre that emerged in the early 1970s from the African-American community of New York City. The style is characterized by its synthesis of a wide range of musical techniques. Hi ...

and

funk Funk is a music genre that originated in African-American communities in the mid-1960s when musicians created a rhythmic, danceable new form of music through a mixture of various music genres that were popular among African-Americans in the ...

. In June 2009 they appeared on a segment of '' Sunday Arts'', which was broadcast nationally by ABC-TV. They are winners of ''

The Age ''The Age'' is a daily newspaper in Melbourne, Australia, that has been published since 1854. Owned and published by Nine Entertainment, ''The Age'' primarily serves Victoria (Australia), Victoria, but copies also sell in Tasmania, the Austral ...

''s "Best Tour 2010" award for their Australian tour with Astatke. Black Jesus Experience have played numerous festivals including

Glastonbury Festival The Glastonbury Festival of Contemporary Performing Arts (commonly referred to as simply Glastonbury Festival, known colloquially as Glasto) is a five-day festival of contemporary performing arts held near Pilton, Somerset, England, in most su ...

, Big Chill,

City of London Festival The City of London Festival was an annual arts festival that took place in the City of London, England, over two to three weeks in June and July. The Festival was strongly geared towards classical music, but also offered a programme that included ...

WOMADelaide WOMADelaide is an annual four-day festival of music, arts and dance in Botanic Park, Adelaide, South Australia. One of many WOMAD festivals held around the world, it is an event that presents a diverse selection of music from artists around th ...

The Big Day Out The Big Day Out (BDO) was an annual music festival that was held in five Australian cities: Sydney, Melbourne, Gold Coast, Queensland, Gold Coast, Adelaide, and Perth, as well as Auckland, New Zealand. The festival was held during summer, typi ...

and

Melbourne Jazz Festival The Melbourne International Jazz Festival is an annual music festival, jazz music festival first held in Melbourne, Australia in 1998. The Festival takes place in concert halls, arts venues, jazz clubs and throughout the streets of Melbourne. ...

, supported Tony Allen and toured Europe and

Ethiopia Ethiopia, officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, is a landlocked country located in the Horn of Africa region of East Africa. It shares borders with Eritrea to the north, Djibouti to the northeast, Somalia to the east, Ken ...

. Their fourth album, ''Migration''. received the 'Best Global/Reggae album' accolade at ''The Age''s 2014 Music Victoria awards. In 2016, Black Jesus Experience released their fifth studio album, ''Cradle of Humanity'', a collaboration with Mulatu Astatke, followed by an Australian and New Zealand tour including the 2016 Melbourne Jazz Festival. On July 3, 2020 Black Jesus Experience released their second collaborative album with Mulatu Astatke entitled ''To Know Without Knowing'' following a 2019 Australian tour. The album received critical acclaim, vocals by Taye were hailed 'mesmerising' and the album deemed an 'irresistible collective effort'. Black Jesus Experience currently hold a weekly residence at Melbourne's ''The Horn African Cafe and Restaurant'' performing their catalogue each Sunday as well as holding regular live concerts across Melbourne.

Discography

Studio albums

Awards and nominations

Music Victoria Awards

The

Music Victoria Awards The Music Victoria Awards (previously known as The Age EG Awards and The Age Music Victoria Awards) are an annual awards night celebrating music from the Australian state of Victoria. They commenced in 2006 and are awarded in Melbourne Music W ...

, are an annual awards night celebrating Victorian music. They commenced in 2005. ! , - , rowspan="2",

2014 The year 2014 was marked by the surge of the Western African Ebola epidemic, West African Ebola epidemic, which began in 2013, becoming the List of Ebola outbreaks, most widespread outbreak of the Ebola, Ebola virus in human history, resul ...

, rowspan="2", ''Migration'' , Best Global or Reggae Album , , , - , Best Jazz Album , , rowspan="2", , - ,

2016 2016 was designated as: * International Year of Pulses by the sixty-eighth session of the United Nations General Assembly. * International Year of Global Understanding (IYGU) by the International Council for Science (ICSU), the Internationa ...

, ''Cradle of Humanity'' , Best Global or Reggae Album , , - ,

2020 The year 2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global Social impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, social and Economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of even ...

, Black Jesus Experience , Best Intercultural Act , , , - ,

2021 Like the year 2020, 2021 was also heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, due to the emergence of multiple Variants of SARS-CoV-2, COVID-19 variants. The major global rollout of COVID-19 vaccines, which began at the end of 2020, continued ...

, Black Jesus Experience , Best Intercultural Act , , , - ,

2022 The year began with another wave in the COVID-19 pandemic, with SARS-CoV-2 Omicron variant, Omicron spreading rapidly and becoming the dominant variant of the SARS-CoV-2 virus worldwide. Tracking a decrease in cases and deaths, 2022 saw ...

, Black Jesus Experience , MAV Diasporas Award , , , - ,

2023 Catastrophic natural disasters in 2023 included the Lists of 21st-century earthquakes, 5th-deadliest earthquake of the 21st century 2023 Turkey–Syria earthquakes, striking Turkey and Syria, leaving up to 62,000 people dead; Cyclone Freddy ...

, Black Jesus Experience , MAV Diasporas Award , , , -

References

{{Reflist Australian jazz ensembles Musical groups established in 2009 Musical groups from Melbourne