GETATCHEW MEKURIA & THE EX & FRIENDS
TOUR JULY 6 TO JULY 17 2012
(plus new double cd of Getatchew Mekuria & The Ex and Friends “Y’Anbessaw Tezeta” out in July 2012)
06/07 AMSTERDAM (Netherlands)- Bimhuis Roots Festival
07/07 KONGSBERG (Norway)- Jazz Festival
08/07 COPENHAGEN (Denmark) – Jazz Festival
10/07 PARIS (France) – Gaité Lyrique
14/07 GRONINGEN- Vera
15/07 DOUR (Belgium) – Pop Festival
16/07 NIJMEGEN – de-Affaire Festival
it’s summer and time for festivals again. With the current wave of sunny days and warm evenings here in Holland, this coming weekend promises to be exciting and interesting.
Music Meeting is an international music festival that unites musical genres from all the corners of the globe: ranging from jazz, soul and funk to klezmer and from gypsy to afro-latin. Ever since it’s founding in 1985 Music Meeting has revolved around improvisation, adventure and experimentation. In twenty-five years Music Meeting has become an established festival, which time and again has presented exceptional and undiscovered talent. The core of the festival consists of projects not bounded by a concept as ‘genre’, performed by artists from diverse cultural backgrounds, who previously have never collaborated. Imagine free jazz combined with minimal music plus a hint of Hebrew soul and Bedouin song.
Some of the artists of African origins or collaborating with Europeans are
Getatchew Mekuria & The Ex & Guests (Nederland, Ethiopië)
Thione Seck Orientation (Senegal)
Djelimady Tounkara String Theory (Mali)
Analog Africa Soundsystem (dj-set) (Germany)
Super Rail Band (Mali)
Dobet Gnahoré (Ivory Coast, France)
Lionel Loueke (Benin, Nederland)
Music Meeting takes place during Whitsun in the lush green Park Brakkestein, bordering the Radboud University of Nijmegen.
At night time the festival spirit is continued in the popular music venue Doornroosje, during which under the name of Club !mm…! a variety of music cultures are blended in with electronic and live dance beats. Here with the younger music- and dance enthusiasts in mind, musicians and DJ’s create an experimental open-minded atmosphere resembling modern music scenes in Rio de Janeiro and New York.
| Date | Artists | Location | Category | |
| 11 june 16.30 |
Dobet Gnahoré Ivoorkust, Frankrijk |
Apollo | concert | |
| 11 june 17.15 |
Benda Bilili! | Movie Meeting | movie | |
| 11 june 18.30 |
Lionel Loueke Benin, Nederland |
Apollo | concert | |
| 11 june 22.30 |
Hazmat Modine & Gangbé Brass Band VS, Benin |
Apollo | concert |
| Date | Titel | Location | Category | |
| 12 june 11.30 |
Boris Tchango & Lucas Niggli Togo, Zwitserland |
Hortus Arcadië | brunchconcert | |
| 12 june 15.00 |
Gangbé Brass Band & Harmonie Tarcisius Nederland, Benin |
Mondo | concert | |
| 12 june 17.00 |
Latin meetz Afro | Intro | cross-overproject | |
| 12 june 20.30 |
Super Rail Band Mali, Afrika |
Apollo | concert | |
| 12 june 23.00 |
Analog Africa Soundsystem (dj-set) Duitsland |
Club ¡mm…! | dj |
| Date | Artists | Location | Category | |
| 13 june 12.30 |
Djelimady Tounkara String Theory Mali |
Hortus Arcadië | concert | |
| 13 june 16.30 |
Getatchew Mekuria & The Ex & Guests Nederland, Ethiopië |
Mondo | concert | |
| 13 june 19.30 |
Thione Seck Orientation Senegal |
Apollo | concert |
Hail the local record store!! Last few days a record has been on my turntable ever since I bought it. Yes, that’s right, I actually bought a record while I was browsing in the local vinyl store. A fascinating blend of music that was played caught my attention and I just had to ask what it was.
To my surprise the music was by The Ex, a Dutch punk band who had recorded this album with Ethiopian saxophone legend Getatachew Mekuria. The album is called ‘Moa Anbessa’ and has been released on the label Terp by The Ex. Strange brew indeed…
Getatchew Mekuria & The Ex-Almaz Yeharerwa
Getatchew Mekuria – Saxophone
The Ex: Katherina Bornefeld – Drums, Terrie Hessels – Guitar, Andy Moor – Guitar, Arnold de Boer – Vocals
Getatchew Mekuria & The Ex -Tezeta
Getatchew Mekuria is the most revered veteran of the Ethiopian saxophone. A real giant, both physically and musically. In his seventies, he is still in full voice, with his own, powerfully distinctive style of playing. His huge vibrato, both forceful and fragile, plays around the vocal lines, using typical Ethiopian embellishments. He started playing in 1947 in the Addis Abeba Municipal Band, then in the Haile Selassie 1 Theatre Orchestra and the Police Orchestra. He also backed up all the famous Ethiopian singers. Getatchew Mekuria is the inventor of a musical style called the ‘Shellele’, which originates from an heroic war-chant, translated to the saxophone. When he plays it, he dons a lion’s mane and cuts loose with furious solos that are a kind of free jazz, from before free jazz existed.
The Ex, from Holland, often descibed as an avant-ethno-improv-punk band, toured Ethiopia twice and fell in love with its music. The Ex had their 25th year anniversary party in November 2004 and they invited Getatchew to perform there with the ICP, the Instant Composers Pool, for many decades Holland’s most amazing free-improvising jazz group.
It was his first time traveling outside of Ethiopia but he accepted the ICP as if they were his own band, donned his lion’s mane, the ‘gofere’, and blasted everyone off stage. On the 25-year-Ex-convoy-tour around France, he played with The Ex.
He was so inspired that he suggested to The Ex he should record his next CD with them. He gave them 10 solo saxophone versions of Ethiopian tunes, which they arranged and practiced. Then in April 2006 Getatchew traveled to the Netherlands for some concerts and recording sessions.
The result is unique; Getatchew’s melodies and solos mesh with The Ex’s rhythms, noise and vocals, supported by a guest impro-horn section.
There were some 80 concerts on many Jazz-, Worldmusic- and Rock-festivals and a presentation of the CD in Addis Abeba, where the record also was released on cassette. First pressing 10.000!
Last year the Ex & Getatchew played a USA Tour ao the Lincoln Center ‘Out of Doors’ in New York and the Millenium Park in Chicago. Later followed by a Canadian Tour and more concerts in Europe.
The Ex www.theex.nl
Terp Records www.terprecords.nl
You are currently browsing the archives for the Ethiopia category.
