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Journalism of Courage
The 1960s and 70s in Ethiopia were known for two things the regime of Emperor Haile Selassie and the music of the government-controlled orchestras,that brought along the trend of brass bands,folk music and jazz in the country a time referred to as the golden age of music. Six years ago,Nick Page,a half-Greek half-British culturally confused musician was inspired by this music and went to Addis Ababa in Ethiopia in search of its roots. He ended up forming a band with 12 musicians five Ethiopians,one Jamaican,one Indian and five Britishers creating a new genre by fusing traditional Ethiopian music with contemporary reggae,dub and jazz. Now called Dub Colossus,the band will regale the authors and visitors at Jaipur Literature Festival today.
Created in 2006,the bands discography journeys from reggae to traditional jazz and contemporary almost representing the timeline of the history of music of Ethiopia. So,while Selassies regime connoted brass and jazz,which is well-documented in the popular musical series called Ethiopiques,Mengistu Haile Mariams regime and their infamous repression campaign in late 1970s resulted in a lull,and had many musicians flee the country. I was fascinated with how Addis Ababa was the centre of cultural and artistic flowering,an explosion of ideas and stimulation of western music,jazz,rock and roll. And now we have this renaissance of Ethiopian music and culture, says Page about the band,which is representative of the elements of the past and is trying to bring back the swaying horns and traditional Ethiopian rhythms to fore.
We take one Ethiopian note on which all of Ethiopian music depends,just like Indian music. The ornamentation is different. What dazzles me is how the same note of music sounds different in different cultures, says Page.
Their line-up comprises two female vocalists including Sintayehu Mimi Zenebe,an established African pop singer,Samuel Yirga on piano,saxophonist Feleke Hailu and Teremage Woretaw,a traditional one-stringed violist,and percussionist Toby Mills,with Page on guitar. The band members,who are on their maiden trip to India,have planned their signature music to enthrall the Indian audience. Even though I have experience with Indian music,such as qawwali,sarangi players,tabla players and so on,I have no idea how its going to be. Jaipur looks like a beautiful city. In addition,the literature festival is going to be a good learning experience, says Page. After the performance,he is also slated to give a collaborative performance with Indian musicians on the last day of the Festival.
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