Jano Band is an Ethiopian rock band formed by its entrepreneurs Ermyas Amelga, Bill Laswell and former manager Addis Gessesse in 2011. It versatilely mixes progressive rock with Ethiopian music. The band includes two female back and lead vocalists, two lead male vocalists, and four musicians who play bass guitar, rhythm guitar, drum, and keyboards.[2][3]
Jano Band | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Background information | |
| Origin | Addis Ababa, Ethiopia |
| Genres | |
| Years active | 2011–2019 |
| Members |
|
| Website | jano |
History edit
2011–2012: Formation and Ertale edit
The band was formed by entrepreneurs Ermyas Amelga and former manager Addis Gessesse in 2011. Jano's debut album Ertale was released in 2012. The album was named as a portmanteau of active volcano in Afar Region. The songs in the album were partly written by the renowned Ethiopian lyricist Yilma Gebreab and partly by them. The prominent singles in this album are "Ethiopiawit Konjo", "Yigermal", "Irasen", "Ayrak", "Irrekum", "Gude", "Mariye", "Mehed Mehed", "Tazebkut", and "Anchi Hagere".[4] This is the first ever rock album in Ethiopia. The audio and video of the song "Ayrak" from the album became quickly popular among the media in Ethiopia.[3]
2013–2017: Major achievements and further releases edit
After the release of the album, Jano had its debut show in April 2012 with shows at Sheraton Addis and the renowned Club H2O. Before they went on a big tour to Europe and the Americas, Jano had countrywide concerts in November at the regional cities of Bahir Dar, Dessie, Jimma, Arba Minch, to introduce the unique sound nationally. Starting from mid-December, Jano began tour covering in Italy, Sweden, the Netherlands, the United States, Israel, and the Middle East.
In September 2015, Jano made live performance at Club H2O in Addis Ababa; at the concert, they performed "Darign", vocal from Hewan, "Aynema Wedajish" and "Fikrish New Yegodagn" performed by Dibekulu and "Erikum" by Hailu. Those singles originally belonged to 20th-century singers like Muluken Melesse and Tilahun Gessesse. The videos went viral on YouTube and the song "Darign" re-released as bonus track of their second album Lerasih New. In the wake of their fame, Jano released "Yinegal" in summer 2015, vocal from Hailu.[5] In the music video, the band performs in the rubble of a house and upon travelling, their van stopped due to insufficient fuel. The group then shove the vehicle to enable the motor.
In 2017, Jano also became the first Ethiopian band to feature on Coke Studio Africa alongside the South African singer Shekinah in Nairobi, Kenya.
2018–2019: Lerasih New, "Tikur Almaz", "Rega", and "Abeba Ena Nib" edit
On 1 February 2018, Jano released their second album called Lerasih New. The album met with positive reviews and won multiple awards. The engineering process of the album was done in BluMusica studio in Turin, Italy and the mastering was done by Lurseen mastering studio in Los Angeles, California, United States.[2]
On 4 October 2018, they released "Tikur Almaz" through Admas Music. The song gained numerous accolades internationally. The music video which was Directed by Daniel Tamrat shows the group of warriors (the band) combating each other to demonstrate Ethiopian nationalism.[6] On 9 September 2019, "Rega" was released featuring electronic music duo Ahadu with rapping credit by Ezra.
On 16 November 2019, the group released "Abeba Ena Nib", vocals from Dibekulu and Haleluya Tekletsadik. The song lyrics were composed by Yilma Gebreab, arranged by Andy Bete Zema, while mixing and mastering held by Abegazu Kibrework Shiota. The music video was directed by Daniel Tamrat.[7]
2020–present: Solo career beginnings edit
In early 2020, Hewan released a song titled "Ane", and her breakout single "Kemenew" in 2020—the latter gave her popularity. This devised other bandmates to establish their solo career, such as Haleluya and Dibekulu. Dibekulu announced on Twitter for his debut album following a single titled "Qesa" release on 8 May 2021.
Musical style edit
The band usually performs progressive rock combining with Ethiopian music, percussion instruments include guitar, keyboards, while traditional instruments like masenqo and krar are also common. They also perform electronic music, and more specifically acoustic music.[3]
Band members edit
The band members include two male lead vocalist and instrumentalist, two female lead and back vocalists, four background instrumentalist and one manager.
Main edit
- Samuel Tefera (manager)
- Dibekulu Tafesse (vocals)
- Hailu Amerga (vocals)
- Hewan Gebrewold (vocals)
- Haleluya Tekletsadik (vocals)
Background edit
Discography edit
Studio albums edit
| Title | Release date |
|---|---|
| Ertale | 2012 |
| Lerasih New | 1 February 2018 |
Non-album singles edit
| Title | Release date | Vocal artists |
|---|---|---|
| "Yinegal" | 2015 | Hailu Amerga |
| "Darign" | 2016 2018 (re-release) |
Hewan Gebrewold |
| "Aynema Wedajish" | 2016 | Dibekulu Tafesse |
| "Fikrish New Yegodagn" | 2016 | Dibekulu Tafesse |
| "Erikum" | 2016 | Hailu Amerga |
| "Tikur Almaz" | 4 October 2018 | – |
| "Rega" | 9 September 2019 | Featuring Ahadu and Ezra |
| "Abeba Ena Nib" | 16 November 2019 | Haleluya Tekletsadik and Dibekulu Tafesse |
Concert tours edit
Jano has performed in Ethiopia and abroad. In Ethiopia, they performed concerts in Addis Ababa, Arba Minch, Bahir Dar, Dessie, Jimma, and Mekelle. Internationally they have performed in Brazil, Italy, Jamaica, Japan, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Sweden, the United States, and the United Kingdom.
Awards and nominations edit
Jano has been nominated for their single "Yinegal" on Leza radio listeners choice award in 2016. In addition to this, the band has also been nominated for best Artist/Duo/Group in African rock alongside the South African singer Loki Rothman and best African group alongside the Kenyan group Sauti Sol, and the Ivorian group Toofan on AFRIMA3.0 in the same year.
See also edit
References edit
- ^ "Ethiopia's Jano Band 'breaks up'". Music In Africa. 19 September 2017. Retrieved 10 January 2021.
- ^ a b "Interview:Jano Band Talks New Album". Tadias. Retrieved 22 April 2018.
- ^ a b c "JANO: An Ethiopian rock phenomena". Addis Standard. 2 November 2012. Retrieved 22 April 2018.
- ^ read, Amos Mabinda·MusicRock·4 years ago·2 min. "Jano Band: Pioneers of unique genre of African music 'Ethio-rock'". AfroWay. Retrieved 18 August 2020.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link) - ^ "Jano: An Ethiopian rock phenomena". Addis Standard. 2 November 2012. Retrieved 22 April 2018.
- ^ "Jano - Tikur Almaz (Lyrics) - Ethiopian Music". www.gondartimes.com. Retrieved 29 June 2020.
- ^ Semonegna (17 November 2019). "Amharic Music: Jano Band – Abeba Ena Nib (አበባ እና ንብ)". Semonegna Ethiopia. Retrieved 29 June 2020.
- ^ a b Observer, Ethiopia (10 September 2017). "Jano band members disbanding over disputes of ownership". Ethiopia Observer. Retrieved 29 October 2020.
- ^ a b c d "Jano Band". cosmopolite.no. Retrieved 10 January 2021.