During the last four days, some of the Ethiopia's finest and most talented jazz musicians and selected bands from abroad have been playing in the "Acacia Jazz Festival & World Music". It is one of the first "Outdoor Jazz" festivals to be held in Addis Ababa and it is designed to entertain not only jazz lovers but also their families.

The music of Ethiopia is diverse, with very different Ethiopia's ethnic groups having unique sounds. Ethiojazz is one of the most famous. Born from the mix between jazz and traditional Amharic Rhythm (five-notes scale involving complex circular rhythm patterns).

Gyrum Mezmur, is a musician and one of the organizers of the festival. He explains: "This is the third edition of the Festival. You can listen to various styles of global music, where Ethiopian and international musicians foster cultural exchange".

Among all the bands we can emphasize some like:

Addis Acoustic Project, Ethiopian band which unfolds Ethiopian music from the past in a contemporary way with influences of traditional East-African, jazz and latin.

Munit&Jorg, who blends of Ethiopian Acoustic Soul Music with voice and guitar.

Ethiocolor is an Ethiopian cultural group with interactive dance & vocals where his leader, Melaku, is the most famous dancer of Eskesta, an impressive traditional shoulder dance from Ethiopia.

Other bands from abroad participated, like Dead Capo from Spain, Dainus Pulauskas Group from Lithuania, Yuri Honing Acoustic Quartet from Netherlands or Teodross Avery Group from USA.

Finally, the days of the festival were completed with the performance of two of the most famous Ethiopian vocalist of the Ethiopian musical history. Mahmoud Ahmed, the living legend who won of the BBC's World Music Awards 2007, and Alemayehu Eshete.


Source: http://allafrica.com/