Eshururu (Witness) – Dereb the Ambassador
Ever heard of Ethio-Twist? Neither had I. But, after stumbling across Eshururu by Dereb the Ambassador, I've decided it's a genre that requires further investigation.
I first came upon the track on the Paris DJs' compilation, Have You Ever Been to Electric Afroland. It's a real stomper mixing the warm, funky sounds of Ethiopian artists from the 60's and 70's like Mulatu Astatqe, Tilahun Gessesse, Mahmoud Ahmed and Alamayehu Eshete with an irresistible driving beat.
Dereb Desalegn was born in Ethiopia but now lives in my old hometown, Sydney. He grew up in a mud hut in rural Ethiopia, but when he was ten his family moved to Addis Ababa. He started playing the Masenqo, the single-stringed Ethiopian spike fiddle, and by his teens had built up a following in the bars of Addis. He met a young Aussie woman teaching English at a private school there and followed her back to Sydney.
Ironically, it wasn't until he got to Australia that he discovered the vintage sound of his homeland's golden era of soul music.
Dereb met soul and hip-hop producer, Tony Buchen, a big fan of classic Ethiopian soul. He assumed the moniker Dereb the Ambassador and, with an eight-piece band of crack local musicians, recorded a self-titled album of Ethio-soul originals and reworked traditional songs from the 1960s and ’70s.
"Music is a lot more commercialised in Ethiopia," he told the Sydney Morning Herald. "It's made the way business people behind the labels want it and that is all that is available. In some ways this music of the '60s and '70s is as new to me as it is for the audiences here in Australia."
Since then Dereb and his band have built a fearsome reputation as a live act. Their repertoire of Ethiopian jazz originals and a swag full of spicy, hypnotic originals like "Eshururu" have got audiences on their feet and dancing across Australia, Japan and South Korea.
Dereb and his band have toured his home country of Ethiopia as well.
If you can't catch Dereb and his band live, don't despair. You can listen to "Esururu" above and on Spotify, where you can also find a clutch of other Ethiopian jazz bangers on his album, Volume II.
As for dancing the Ethio-Twist, it's all in the shoulders, apparently.
Peter Moore is the author of six travel books, including The Wrong Way Home, Swahili for the Broken-Hearted and The Full Montezuma. He is also the editor of The Vagabond Imperative, which you can find here.
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