Young EthioJazz band to star at Heritage Festival

July 20, 2013

Preserving
Their Ethiopian Heritage in Jazz

Yonathan Estfanos, who plays
trumpet, describes The Young Ethio Jazz Band’s sound
as, “Unique and mellow and lively. And nothing like
anything people have ever heard of, especially people of this generation.” Like
many of the band members, Estfanos says the band has
allowed him to preserve his cultural heritage. “I feel like I’m going back to
my culture; you know? I feel like I’m going back to my roots,” he said.

From Rasela’s Jazz Club in San Francisco to
Washington, D.C.

In January of this
year, The Young Ethio Jazz Band made their debut
public performance at Rasela’s Jazz Club in the
Fillmore District of San Francisco. They covered a number of Ethiopian Jazz
numbers with each member taking a solo part in many. They are coming to perform
in Washington, D.C. to reach out the youth and to be a role
models of the Ethiopian Heritage for Ethiopian Americans.

EHSNA Members Support The Young Ethio Jazz Band

EHSNA is sponsoring
the Third Annual Ethiopian Heritage Festival to be held in D.C. on the grounds
of Georgetown University. Because the festival attracts thousands every year,
The Young Ethio Jazz Band will have an excellent
venue to pour out their musical skills, their love of their heritage, and a
whole lot of soul. Flying eight young men and their instruments across a
continent takes some money and EHSNA members banded together to raise funds to get
the talented youngsters to the East Coast and care for them while there.

The Father of Ethio Jazz

The Young Ethio Jazz Band plays Ethio-jazz,
a style that blends American jazz and Latin rhythms with traditional Ethiopian
sounds. Led by musicians such as Mulatu Astatke, known as the Father of Ethiopian Jazz, Ethio-jazz flowered during the 60s and early 70s. Astatke’s music has been played on many NPR stations and
provided the soundtrack for the 2005 film “Broken Flowers” starring Bill
Murray. His sounds
are the inspiration for the group.

The Roots of The Young Ethio Jazz Band

The young men of The
Young Ethio Jazz Band came together under the
tutelage of Sirak Tegbaru.
He and the young musicians are members of Oakland’s Medhani
Alem Ethiopian Orthodox Church. The band members are
trained and aspiring jazz musicians, but were new to Ethio
Jazz. Most of this Ethiopian music hasn’t been written; their leader, Tegbaru, studied each song carefully, learning the
keyboard, horn, bass, and drum parts to teach them. Months later, using modern
instruments yet learning by ear, the youngsters were ready for their
performance at Rasela’s last January. Due to that
performance, they are receiving some critical acclaim. Prior
to that they had been performing at community events or at venues in their
respective schools.

Third Annual Ethiopian
Heritage Festival