Ethiopian jazz, also referred to as Ethio-jazz, is a blend of traditional Ethiopian music with

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. Its roots are in blues, ragtime, European harmony, African rhythmic rituals, spirituals, h ...

, combining the

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

-based melodies of

Amharic Amharic is an Ethio-Semitic language, which is a subgrouping within the Semitic branch of the Afroasiatic languages. It is spoken as a first language by the Amhara people, and also serves as a lingua franca for all other metropolitan populati ...

music with the 12-tone scale and instrumentation of western music. Over time the genre has grown to include elements from other genres such as afrofunk,

soul The soul is the purported Mind–body dualism, immaterial aspect or essence of a Outline of life forms, living being. It is typically believed to be Immortality, immortal and to exist apart from the material world. The three main theories that ...

Armenian jazz Armenian jazz refers to jazz music composed by Armenia, Armenian musicians, sometimes combined with traditional Armenian elements. History 1930s–1940s: Early beginnings The roots of Armenian jazz trace back to 1936, when composer and trump ...

, and

Latin Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...

rhythms. The genre originated in the 1950s with Armenian refugees such as musician Nerses Nalbandian, who created a fusion of Ethiopian and Western music while working at the National Theatre. Ethiopian jazz was revolutionized by

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 ...

in the late 1950s. Mulatu is considered the father of Ethio-jazz music.

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 (born Tafari Makonnen or ''Ethiopian aristocratic and court titles#Lij, Lij'' Tafari; 23 July 189227 August 1975) was Emperor of Ethiopia from 1930 to 1974. He rose to power as the Ethiopian aristocratic and court titles, Rege ...

commissioned Nalbandian to compose music for the Ethiopian National Theatre, 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

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 administrativ ...

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: aeronautical engineering and astronautical engineering. Avionics engineering is s ...

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

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

. Mulatu 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 university, private music college in Boston, Boston, Massachusetts. It is the largest independent college of contemporary music in the world. Known for the study of jazz and modern Music of the United ...

Boston Boston is the capital and most populous city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city serves as the cultural and Financial centre, financial center of New England, a region of the Northeas ...

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

List of musicians

Alemayehu Eshete Alemayehu Eshete Andarge (Amharic: ዓለማየሁ እሸቴ አንዳርጌ; June 1941 – 2 September 2021) was an Ethiopian singer, widely known as the "Abyssinian Elvis" for his dynamic performances and his fusion of traditional Ethiopian ...

* Emahoy Tsegué-Maryam * Teshome Mitiku * Menelik Wossenachew * Tilahun Gessesse
Kibrom Birhane
* Hailu Mergia * Getatchew Mekurya * Girma Beyene * Getachew Kassa * Tewodros Tadesse * Samuel Yirga * Teddy Mak * Henok Temesgen * Teferi Assefa
Esy Tadesse
* Doctor Jonovan Cooper * Jorga Mesfin * Fasil Wuhib * Nadav Haber * Tewodro Aklilu * Abegaz Kibrework * Aster Aweke * Letarik Tilahoun * Abiy Woldemariam * Abiy Osman * Dawit Getachew * Dawit Adera * Henok Mehari * Yizzac * Liben Tinos

References

{{Jazz Music of Ethiopia Jazz genres