Fused: From left, Sébastien Brun, Théo Girard, Zak Cammoun (sound engineer), Nicolas Stephen, Melaku Belay, Julien Rousseau, Jeanne Added, Zinash Tsegaye, and Julien Omé pose for a photo-op.

In January 2009, two French musicians with the group Le bruit du [sign], Nicolas Stephan and Sébastien Brun, came to Addis Abeba to research the possibility of fusing their contemporary jazz practices with the traditional sounds of Ethiopia. They embarked upon the work of writing new songs with Melaku Belay, a traditional dancer, based on the reflections of their experiences.

Having gathered what they felt was sufficient for experimenting with the new medium, they returned to France for what would be a yearlong lockdown with their jazz sextet. It was a group that consists of Nicolas and Sébastien, on the saxophone and drums, respectively, as well as Julien Rousseau on the trumpet, Julien Omé on the electric guitar; and Théo Girard on the double bass with Jeanne Added lending her voice.

“The confluence of the cultures was fiery,” Nicolas admits.

Serendipity did not smile on the group, however. After toiling for nearly a year trying to digest, interpret and reflect on their experiences, they had found it difficult to fuse their rock and roll and experimental jazz influences with Ethiopian music - at least not until Melaku and his 13-year colleague, Zenash Tsegaye, were invited to perform with them at the Theater Gerard Philipe in Paris, at the Africolor Festival last December, 2009, according to Nicolas.

“He [Melaku] was able to put things in perspective, after which we performed together in Paris,” he says. “But this year of work, experiences, discoveries, and mistakes was deemed necessary to be presented in Ethiopia for feedback from the owners of the culture.”

It was in such a manner that the group’s Ethiopian tour began on Thursday, January 14, 2010, in Hawassa (Awassa), the seat of the Southern Nations, Nationalities and Peoples Regional State, 276km south of Addis Abeba.

Today, January 17, 2010, they will perform at a concert to be held in Kombolcha, Amhara Regional State, inside the Bati Brewery Club.

“I really want to see the responses [Ethiopian] audiences will have to our interpretation of their cultural music,” Jeanne told Fortune.

Audiences from Hawassa and Bati are not all the group wants to hear from. Upcoming gigs include shows planned in Addis Abeba on January 19, 21, 22 and 23, 2010 at the Asni Arts Village, Addis Abeba University, the Alliance Ethio-Française and Fendika Night Club, respectively.

All performances are open, free of charge, according to organisers.

Jazz fans in Ethiopia, particularly those liberal in their style and keen to see the fusion of different cultures, will not be disappointed, organisers say.

The French group was believed to have built an actual language in the music arena when they were awarded the National Jazz Contest La Défence, in France, in 2006.

This “off the main road” band is credited as such for its six-years’ worth of edifice in the craft of weaving its members’ generation’s attitude, according to 28-year-old Jeanne.

“We are used to experimenting with different media,” she told Fortune. “We’ve worked at fusing our music with painting processes, photography and dances.”

A year later, the Ethiopian music encounter is what circulates in her blood vessels, she says.

“I am a filter,” says Jeanne. “What I hear, taste, and experience goes through me, and I project them back into the world in the form of a voice, according to my interpretation.”

The outcome of this filtration of the Ethiopian music experience precipitate for the consideration of Ethiopian audiences in Le bruit du [sign]’s tour.

Ethio-Color, a traditional music and dance group that Melaku conceived, Alliance Ethio-Française, MOENCO, Total, BGI Ethiopia and Festival Africolour, brought these music and dance performances together in this tour of the Ethiopian music scene.

“Total Ethiopia has a long-standing relation with the Alliance,” affirms Haileyesus Assefa, Communications and Relations Manager at the gas giant.

“After all, both are French institutions in Ethiopia trying to nurture professional work in the promotion of Ethiopian and French culture in the arts.”

Stressing that there was no business angle to their engagement in the endeavour, he said that Total only anticipates the preservation of heritage and developing talent in both cultures.

Source: Addis Fortune