Debo Band - Ere Gobez (2016)

Debo Band are a large ensemble led by Ethiopian-American saxophonist Danny Mekonnen and fronted by charismatic vocalist Bruck Tesfaye. Since their inception in 2006, the band has won raves for their groundbreaking take on Ethiopian pop music (think Ethiopiques), which incorporates traditional scales and vocal styles, alongside American soul and funk rhythms, and instrumentation reminiscent.

Their highly anticipated sophomore album, Ere Gobez (FPE Records; May 20, 2016), continues the band's innovative approach to the Ethiopian musical past, keeping the spirit of the original without being beholden to it—but gets even wilder in its grooves and imagination. Finding flights of fantasy in under appreciated historical moments, like Duke Ellington's travels through Ethiopia or musical impact of Haile Selassie's commitment of Ethiopian soldiers to the Korean War, Ere Gobez puts forward a bold work that reimagines Ethiopian popular music of the last forty years while also contributing powerful original compositions that add to the canon of funk and rock jams characteristic of the prolific 1970s Addis Ababa music scene.