About ETHIOCOLOR

Ethiocolor, a troupe of the most accomplished azmari musicians and dancers from Addis Ababa, draws deeply from the well of Ethiopia’s bardic tradition while adding creative movements and sounds that revitalize their ancient artistic forms. Ethiocolor features twelve performers – four dancers, two singers, and instruments including two percussion sets (kebero drums and konga), masenko (a one-stringed bowed fiddle), krar (a five- or six-stringed lyre), a base krar, and a washint (wooden flute). Founded in 2009 by Melaku Belay, Ethiopia’s leading dancer and a respected cultural ambassador, the ensemble is based at Melaku’s renowned Fendika Cultural Center/Azmari Bet in the Kazanchis neighborhood of Addis Ababa. In Ethiopian culture, an azmari bet is a traditional house of music where people come to be entertained, informed, and sometimes playfully insulted by the azmari who serve as current events commentators while they dance, sing, and play for tips.

Performance Portfolio

Melaku and Ethiocolor extend their base of tradition to new areas of musical exploration, developing strong performance partnerships with Ethiopian jazz bands Addis Acoustic Project and the US-based Debo Band, as well as international groups such as Le Baroque Nomade, Ukandanz, Akalé Wubé, Arat Kilo, and especially European punk band The Ex. The group has performed with legendary Ethiopian singer Mahmoud Ahmed and begena player Alemu Aga, while Melaku has collaborated with Éthiopiques founder Francis Falceto, Italian musicians Saba Anglana and Debora Petrina, Italian saxophonist Enzo Favata, among many others.  Ethiocolor artists appeared in Scandinavia, France, Spain, Mali, Tanzania, Holland, Belgium, Germany, Italy, the Czech Republic, Austria, Qatar, India and United Arab Emirates; they rocked the Roskilde Festival in Denmark in July 2014, earning a rave review. Members of the group toured the US in 2011, 2012, and 2013 with stops at the Lowell and Richmond Folk Festivals, the International Festival of Arts and Ideas, and Kennedy Center as well as Lincoln Center where their performance received great acclaim from the New York Times. Ethiocolor performed as a showcase band at the prestigious Womex Festival in October 2014 and toured Europe twice during 2015 with The Ex, returning to Germany and Scandinavia in August 2015. Ethiocolor performed in Israel for the Jerusalem Sacred Music festival in September 2015. The performance of Ethiocolor/Fendika artists was a highlight at globalFEST, the premier world music showcase in New York, in January 2016. Later that year in August and September, they returned to the US for a 14-city tour. In November 2016, They also toured Europe with the Ex. In 2017, they were invited to perform at the African Music Festival in Tel Aviv (January), Israel, Glatt and Verkehrt Festival in Austria (July), and the UNESCO-Katara Cultural Diversity Festival in Doha, Qatar (October). 2018 saw Ethiocolor musicians at World Sacred Spirit Festival, Jodhpur, India (February) and Barzakh Festival, Abu Dhabi, UAE (February/March), and a 12-city tour of the USA. In April 2018 Melaku shared the stage with the legendary Mahmoud Ahmed and Girma Beyene at Banlieuse Bleues Festival in Paris. In 2019, Ethiocolor/Fendika went on a European tour with the Ex in celebration of the latter’s 40th anniversary.

DISCOGRAPHY

Ethiocolor/Fendika has compiled three CDs of their music: Addis Tradition (2013), Ethiocolor (2014) produced by Selam Sounds, and Birabiro (2016) by Terp Records. The video Ethiocolor 360◦ was selected as one of the top 15 of 2015 by OkayAfrica. Roots World selected Birabiro as their Music of the Month for August 2017.